Indian companies, led by Vodafone-Essar and Air India, raised $1.34 billion (Rs 7,030 crore) through external commercial borrowings in January, the Reserve Bank of India said today.
Of this, $764.08 million (around Rs 4,000 crore) was raised through the automatic route and $573 million (around Rs 3,000 crore) via the approval route. In December, companies had raised $1.67 billion (Rs 8,762 crore based on present exchange rate) through ECBs. Companies, however, continued to refrain from borrowing through foreign currency convertible bonds in January.
| THE BIG BORROWERS | ||
| Company | Amount (in $ mn) | Tenure (in months) |
| National Aviation Co | 364.18 | 145 |
| Air India Charters | 183.95 | 147 |
| Vodafone-Essar Spacetel | 184.00 | 65 |
| Vodafone-Essar South | 157.65 | 65 |
| Vodafone-Essar Cellular | 95.77 | 65 |
| Vodafone-Essar Digilink | 34.87 | 65 |
| Vodafone-Essar | 24.69 | 65 |
| Vodafone-Essar Gujarat | 23.36 | 65 |
| Source: RBI | ||
Vodafone-Essar was the largest borrower, raising $520.34 million (Rs 2,730 crore) for import of capital goods for various circles. The tenure of the loans raised through the automatic route was 65 months. In addition, Great Offshore ($52 million or Rs 273 crore) and Greatship (India) raised $24.16 million (Rs 127 crore) for import of capital goods.
Through the approval route, National Aviation Company, which operates air services under the Air India brand, raised $364.18 million (Rs 1,911 crore) for a tenure of 145 months to import capital goods. Air India Charters too accessed overseas loans worth $183.95 million (Rs 965 crore) for the same purpose but the tenure was 147 months.
In addition, Posco India Pune Processing Centre raised $10 million (Rs 52 crore) for modernisation.