South Asia

A range of credits from India, Malaysia and Greater China stormed the Asian debt market on Thursday, vying for investor attention.

India’s Bharat Financial Inclusion, previously known as SKS Finance, has raised Rp7.5bn ($112.8m) through a highly sought after qualified institutional placement.

India’s UPL Corp is setting its sights on a dollar offering, and has obtained first time ratings from international agencies.

India has made great strides with the setting up of its first international financial services centre. The move is laudable, and most of the market feedback has been positive. But the authorities should not get complacent — a lot more needs to be done before the centre becomes the go-to destination for international capital market participants.

India’s Canara Bank is looking to return to the international debt market after a hiatus of nearly three years, having received the go-ahead from its board to sell dollar notes.

Azure Power Global, the holding company of Azure Power India, opened books on Thursday for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and is targeting as much as $180.3m.

Banks are queueing to set up shop in an international financial services hub in India — the first of its kind in the country. Institutions operating there enjoy certain regulatory exemptions, which are expected to give a leg-up to domestic lenders looking to build a foreign currency loan book. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

India’s debut IPO from the insurance sector has priced at the top of its range, with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co raising Rp60.6bn ($904.8m) as demand exceeded supply by almost 11x.

Standard Chartered has given Kaustubh Kulkarni responsibility for Indian rupee bond syndicate, as the bank seeks fresh opportunities in local currency debt.

UK motor and lubricant oil producer Castrol has raised Rp18.1bn ($270.1m) from a sale of its stake in Castrol India. The deal suffered from slippage after the leads missed the block window that protects such trades in the open market.

Standard Chartered has expanded Kaustubh Kulkarni’s responsibilities within debt capital markets as the bank seeks fresh opportunities in local currency bonds.

Motor and lubricant oil producer Castrol is on track to raise Rp17.7bn ($264.1m) from cutting down its stake in its Indian arm, marking the UK firm’s second such sell-down this year.