South Asia

Gunvor Singapore and India’s state-owned Rural Electrification Corp are tapping lenders for more than $1bn in new financings.

The Indian government has launched its first divestment of the 2017/18 fiscal year, a sale of National Aluminium Company shares, and investors have jumped at the offer.

India’s Rural Electrification Corp has extended the deadline for its latest request for proposals for a $200m syndicated facility by a week to next Monday.

India’s divestment body has sent requests for proposals for IPOs and offer-for-sales in a range of power and infrastructure companies.

Rural Electrification Corp chose not to exercise the greenshoe option on its $230m five year borrowing, resulting in a huge scaleback for many of its lenders.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will let banks buy shares in real estate and infrastructure investment trusts (Reits and InvITs), removing one of the last hurdles for an asset class that has struggled to get off the ground for years. But some market participants still have doubts, warning that the debut deal will not come swiftly. John Loh reports.

Oil India raised $500m from the sale of its new 10 year notes on Tuesday, winning over investors with its investment grade rating, state support and rarity value.

Invitations are out for a $500m three year borrowing for State Bank of India, which has lined up 13 lenders to lead the deal with the money funded in March.

India’s divestment body has sent out requests for proposals seeking firms to run divestments in a host of companies from the energy sector to shipbuilding and weapons manufacturing.

Oil India is returning to dollar bonds, launching a new 10 year offering on Tuesday morning, with the aim of paying off debt related to its 2016 Russian oilfield acquisitions.

The third largest private sector bank in India, Axis Bank, has provided a $295m loan to Aster DM Healthcare after it failed to alter the terms on a previous loan.

Eight lenders will arrange a $750m five year borrowing for an entity in the Vedanta Group, in a deal that has been in discussion since January.