“We plan to raise $500-750 million through external commercial borrowings/dollar bonds in March to diversify our funding sources, reduce dependence on banks and support business growth,” Jain said. He said the exercise is likely to be completed by the third week of March.
Indian investment bankers have urged SEBI to allow lending against bonds to increase underwriting capacity and better manage risks when debt sales see weak demand. They also sought access to broader funding sources and an anonymous bond trading platform, arguing that these changes would deepen liquidity and strengthen India’s corporate bond market.
“The fundraising will be done through a combination of dollar-denominated loans and foreign currency social bonds,” Jain said. “Global banks that are our existing lenders, as well as investors from countries such as Singapore and Taiwan are showing interest.”
Deutsche Bank, Mizuho Bank, Export Development Canada, British International Investment (BII) and the US government’s development finance institution DFC are among global entities that previously participated in IIFL Finance’s global debt issuances.
Incidentally, earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India increased external borrowing limits, relaxed maturity standards and removed cost caps. Eligible entities can now raise up to $1 billion in outstanding loans from the ECB, or 300% of net assets, based on the last audited stand-alone balance sheets. The previous borrowing cap was $750 million.
Indian companies raised a record $61 billion through the ECB in FY25, up from $48 billion in FY24. Besides dollar fundraising, IIFL Finance is also looking to increase the share of bond issuance in its liability profile. The lender launched a ₹2,000 crore retail bond issue on February 17 and is in the process of raising another ₹1,000 crore from institutional investors through private placement.
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