PNB Housing Finance has raised $100 million (Rs 690 crore) from the International Finance Corporation, for providing small and medium ticket housing loans.
Official data suggests that India needs to build 11 million homes in the affordable housing segment. Nearly 50 million people do not have adequate housing.
“To support the Indian government’s vision of Housing for All by 2022, our country strategy places a strong emphasis on the affordable housing sector,” said Hemalata Mahalingam, manager (financial institutions group) at IFC South Asia.
The investment was made under the central bank’s automatic route.
“This is the first external commercial borrowing (ECB) disbursement during the current financial year under the Reserve Bank of India’s automatic route. Several other ECB proposals are in the pipeline,” said Sanjaya Gupta, Managing Director, PNB Housing Finance Ltd.
He said that the fully-hedged facility has come at a landed cost that is much lower than the domestic pricing for similar tenures. “The line of credit will not only enhance the liquidity but
will further balance our long-term asset liability as the facility is for five years,” he said.
RBI has allowed PNB Housing to borrow up to $750 million annually in ECB under the automatic route.
Source : ET
