Indian companies eye long-tenor debt from yield-hungry Japanese banks

Japan's negative interest rates are pushing the nation's yield-starved lenders and insurers into emerging-market debt

India’s biggest companies are tapping deposit-heavy Japanese lenders for long-tenor debt, drawn by the nation’s near-record low yen rates and excess liquidity. 

Indian Railway Finance Corp. is looking to raise the equivalent of $250 million in yen for 10 years, the company’s first syndicated Samurai loan since 1998, Managing Director S.K. Pattanayak said in an interview. NTPC Ltd., the nation’s largest power utility, is seeking $350 million-equivalent of the same maturity. This compares with an average tenor of six years on $846 million of yen loans signed by Indian borrowers last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Appetite remains strong for a