The external commercial borrowings and foreign currency convertible bonds raised by Indian companies slowed down to $1.60 billion in Augugust 2008 as against $2.47 billion in July 2008. During April and May the ECBs and FCCBs raised by Indian companies stood at $1.16 billion and $1.28 billion, respectively, the Reserve Bank of India said.
The RBI released the latest figures on ECBs and FCCBs for March 2008 on Friday. In March, the ECBs and FCCBs raised by Indian companies stood at $ $4.5 billion. In
February, Indian corporates raised $862.12 million as compared to $1.89 billion in January 2008. Last year, due to the ongoing turmoil in the international markets and credit drying up, Indian companies were seen coming back to their origin to raise funds.
As compared to last year, there has been an increased amount of domestic activity, as Indian corporates are looking at raising capital through domestic bonds and debentures.
In August, Dongsung Precision Company Pvt Ltd was the largest issuer of ECB for $366 million for the import of capital goods, over a maturity period of 6 years and 5 months.
There were just about three deals through FCCBs in August. In April 2008, Reliance Communications was the largest ECB issuer of $250 million for the import of capital goods with a maturity period of 6 years and 11 months, followed by Aban Offshore Ltd, which was the largest FCCB issuer for $200 million. They raised the required capital for overseas acquisition with a maturity of 5 years.
In May 2008, Jet Airways (India) Ltd was the largest ECB issuer of $287 million for the import of capital goods with a maturity period of 11 years and 10 months.