MUMBAI, Sept 12 (Askume) – India’s government-backed National Bank for Infrastructure and Development (NABFID) plans to raise 530 billion rupees ($6.31 billion) from the debt market this financial year, its top executive told Askume on Thursday.
NaBFID Managing Director Rajkiran Rai said the bank has raised Rs 9,000 crore and the remaining funds will be raised as per the infrastructure lender’s disbursement model.
NaBFID has sanctioned Rs 20,000 crore out of the target of Rs 1 trillion for the 12 months till March 2025, Rai said.
He said that by March 2024 the company had disbursed loans worth over Rs 1 trillion but the terms were longer than 15 months.
Despite potential issues with the Reserve Bank of India implementing its proposed norms requiring lenders to set aside higher provisions for infrastructure projects under construction , Rai is confident of meeting this year’s target.
Rai expects the new norms to impact pricing and said NaBFID has expressed its concern to the Reserve Bank of India that cash flows from completed projects will be impacted by these proposed norms.
He hoped that the central bank would take into account the concerns of the industry and hence expected a phased implementation.
If this happens, loan growth will not be impacted but there could be temporary disruption in pricing, Rai said.
“If the current guidelines are implemented as is, (lending rates) are likely to increase by between 0.5% and 0.6%,” Rai said.
“As of now, any viable project, with good sponsor support, with the right terms and agreements, will not be delayed due to lack of credit. There are enough lenders in the system. So I don’t expect to get credit. Question. (1 USD = 83.9550 Indian Rupees)
