India Inc’s external borrowings hit record $2.25 bn

The country’s corporate sector has set the record for the highest amount raised by way of external borrowings in 2003 at nearly $2.25 b...

The country’s corporate sector has set the record for the highest amount raised by way of external borrowings in 2003 at nearly $2.25 billion since the market was opened up in 1995. If that is not enough, banks from China, Italy, Austria, Spain and Taiwan also took on Indian credit on their books.

The league table released by international publication Basis Points places Credit Lyonnais/ Credit Agricole (both banks are the in the process of merging) as the biggest arranger of cross-border loans at $1.2 billion in 18 deals.

‘‘We have come a long way from the days when Reliance Industries contracted the first cross-border loan in 1995, a seven-year $150-million facility arranged by Citibank, Bank of America and Credit Lyonnais,’’ said a source.

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Making it to the list are relatively unknown names like Natexis Banques Populaires (France) and Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (Austria), Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Spa, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (Spain) and two from Taiwan: Bumiputra Commerce Bank Bhd and Land Bank of Taiwan.

Meanwhile, two deals currently in the market are: Indian Oil Corporation’s$150-million three-year forex loan syndication with a $50-million greenshoe option and RIL’s $250-million facility, for which syndication reportedly kickstarted on Wednesday.

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A controversial decision-making process has set off divisions within the CBFC, and cast a long regulatory shadow on the Indian film industry as it aspires to be a global player . The Indian Express spoke to several top filmmakers and board members to find that a not-so-silent storm is brewing within the fraternity — and inside the CBFC, too — over what many call a “one-man show”.

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