IIFCL to launch take-out finance next week

India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) would launch take-out finance next week to help banks in financing infrastructure projects, a top official of the company said.

"We will launch take-out financing scheme on October 12 at the hands of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee," Chairman and Managing Director of IIFCL S K Goel said.

He said under the scheme, IIFCL would buy out 50 per cent of the loan books commercial banks to make more headroom available for more infrastructure funding.

Goel said in the first three years, IIFCL would buy out Rs 25,000 crore of loans of commercial banks, out of which Rs 3,000 crore would be in the first year.

The remaining Rs 22,000 crore would be done by March 2013, Goel told reporters on the sidelines of Banking Colloquium 2010 here today.

Currently, six banks had approached the institution for selling loans to it.

Goel said that IIFCL was also in the process of creating a bond market by which insurance companies would be able to invest in bonds issued by the infrastructure companies.

He said that IIFCL would enhance the credit rating of the bonds of the infrastructure companies.