HDFC raises USD 300 million under affordable housing plan

Mortgage firm HDFC has raised USD 300 million vial external commercial borrowings (ECB) to fund low-cost affordable housing.
The fund, raised in the form of a syndicated loan facility, is the first by an housing finance company under the low-cost affordable housing scheme of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), HDFC said in a statement.
The RB) in December, 2012 had the opened USD 1-billion ECB window for housing finance companies to raise funds via ECB to finance affordable housing projects.
Low-cost affordable housing units have been defined as units where the property cost does not exceed Rs 30 lakh, loan amount is capped at Rs 25 lakh and the carpet area does not exceed 60 square metres.

The fund has been raised from a consortium of four lenders-- State Bank of India (SBI), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and DBS Bank.
The borrowing facility has a tenor of 5 years, it said, adding, the company has drawn-down the facility in February 2014 from the above consortium of lenders.
The rate of interest on the facility is linked to USD Libor plus a spread of 1.75 per cent. HDFC has swapped the facility in Indian Rupees for the entire tenor of the loan, it said.