After Japan, Hudco looks to tap Singapore, Taiwan for funds
HUDCO) is looking to tap East Asian countries such as Singapore and Taiwan to raise funds this fiscal year after a similar successful exercise in Japan, chairman and managing director Sanjay Kulshrestha told ET.
«Japan was the maiden attempt to raise funds via external commercial borrowing, and we have been received very well. There is a good arbitrage; we are getting funds at 6.5%-80-100 bps lesser than the domestic funds,» said Kulshreshta, noting that the company's fundraising may surpass its original aim.
HUDCO was planning to raise $100 million from Japan but is confident of landing nearly double that amount. Kulshreshta, who took charge of HUDCO last year, said the company may even tap the US market after the Fed initiates rate cuts.
«In the latter part of the year, we may plan some dollar loans and another fundraising from the Japanese market,» he said. Besides tapping the external market, HUDCO is also exploring fundraising opportunities in India besides taking the asset monetisation route. In February, HUDCO signed a memorandum of understanding with another state-run company, NBCC (India) Ltd, to monetise assets for the central government.
«Charity will begin at home. HUDCO has many properties and land parcels. Our first target will be to monetise our own assets. We can move on to PSUs, like MTNL and BSNL, railways, and defence,» Kulshreshta noted. HUDCO has been trying to nearly double its loan book to about ₹1.5 lakh crore in FY26 from₹ 80,000 crore currently. It expects to cross ₹1 lakh crore loan
