Hudco eyes $2 bn overseas borrowing to complement govt's urban infra blitz
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : India’s state-run non-bank lender for housing and urban projects plans to raise $2 billion from multilateral agencies and through foreign-currency borrowing to fund modern infrastructure projects in cities, according to a top executive. Housing and Urban Development Corp.
(Hudco) plans to borrow $1 billion from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), tapping these multilateral agencies after a gap of nearly 25 years, said chairman and managing director Sanjay Kulshrestha in an interview. In addition, it aims to mop up another $1 billion through two tranches of Yen-denominated loans in the next six months, he said. This is part of the company's cost-optimization strategy, enabling access to low-cost, long-tenor funds to support scalable urban infrastructure financing.
The competitively priced overseas funds are expected to be used through Hudco’s Urban Invest Window, launched in November, to assist urban local bodies in developing bankable, high-impact infrastructure. Kulshrestha said in view of the current volatility in global currency markets, the company is not considering dollar-denominated borrowings at this stage. The government-owned lender’s push for urban infrastructure aligns with the government’s objective of developing City Economic Regions.
It aims to create modern infrastructure to boost economic growth across select urban hubs covering tier 2 and 3 cities. The Urban Invest Window is a one-stop investment facilitation platform aimed at accelerating sustainable urban development across Indian cities, according to Kulshrestha. The company is repurposing itself as a development-focused financial institution for urban local bodies (ULBs), strengthening its
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