India Inc's foreign borrowings fall 9 per cent to USD 2.81 bn in Feb

Mumbai: India Inc's borrowings from foreign markets fell to USD 2.81 billion in February, down by 9 per cent as compared to the year-ago month, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday.

The domestic firms had raised as much as USD 3.1 billion through the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route in the corresponding month of 2018. No firms tapped the rupee-denominated bonds route to borrow capital from foreign markets during February. The entire fund mop-up during the month was done through the automatic route of ECB, showed the RBI data.

Among the major borrowers were Oil India Ltd (USD 550 million for overseas investment), Indian Oil Corporation (USD 400 million as working capital loan), Shriram Transport Finance Company (USD 400 million for sub-lending) and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (USD 300 million for sub-lending).

Tata Capital Housing Finance raised USD 200 million for on-lending, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery USD 140.71 million for new project investment, and Barclays Global Services Centre Pvt Ltd USD 130.11 million for new project.