Corporate India's foreign borrowing down 45% at $2.42 bn in January, RBI data reveals

Mumbai: India Inc’s external commercial borrowings (ECBs) fell by 45 percent to $2.42 billion in January 2019 as compared to the year-ago period, data from RBI has showed. Domestic firms had raised $5.40 billion from overseas sources during January 2018. Of the total borrowings during the month, $2.27 billion was raised through the automatic route of the ECBs.

The remaining $150 million was taken through the approval route, as per the Reserve Bank data on ECB for January 2019. No money was raised through rupee-denominated bonds (RDBs) during the month, both in 2019 and 2018. Major borrowers, which tapped resources overseas via approval route, included Indian Oil Corporation Limited ($900 million), Bharat Petroleum Corp ($500 million) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp ($200 million). All three oil marketing firms raised the money for their working capital requirement. Power Grid Corporation raised $228.55 million for power project and Reliance Home Finance raised $35.50 million for lending. Power Finance Corp was the only firm to raise $150 million through approval route for sub-lending purpose.