Vedanta turns to LIC for Rs 5,000 cr as offshore borrowing gets costlier

Fund to be raised via 10-yr bonds; another Rs 2K cr to come via 18-month papers

At a time when higher US interest rates have made it expensive for Indian firms to tap foreign bond markets, mining major Vedanta Limited is likely to have struck a direct transaction with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to raise Rs 4,809 crore through 10-year bonds, multiple sources told Business Standard.

“It’s a structured transaction with LIC which they (Vedanta) are doing. They (Vedanta) are AA-rated. It’s a 10-year paper. It’s a direct trade with non-coupon bidding; it is open bidding,” said a senior treasury official.

“The pricing is somewhere around 10-year G-sec plus 100 basis points – likely