IIFCL eyes 50% rise in disbursals

With more infrastructure projects needing funds, India Infrastructure Finance Co (IIFCL) expects a 50 per cent rise in disbursals to Rs 4,900 crore in 2009-10. Last year, it had disbursed Rs 3,200 crore.

The state-run lender has disbursed Rs 1,800 crore in the first six months of the current financial year, which is 50 per cent higher than Rs 1,200 crore disbursed in April-September last year. Disbursal of funds, which it had raised through a special bond as part of the government stimulus measures, is yet to begin.

IIFCL Chairman SS Kohli told Business Standard that the company would be able to lend around Rs 3,100 crore in October-March. His optimism comes from the growth in disbursals seen in the first half of the year. “The momentum is likely to continue,” he said.

Its UK subsidiary has set a disbursal target of $350 million this year, of which, only $6 million has been disbursed so far. IIFCL (UK) has been established with the objective of borrowing a part of foreign exchange reserves ($5 billion) from the RBI and lending to Indian infrastructure companies for meeting their capital expenditure needs for imports, outside India.

Kohli said most of the disbursals were likely to take place in the later part of the year. The subsidiary has sanctioned nine projects to the tune of $1.4 billion.

Asked about the Rs 10,000-crore refinance facility extended to IIFCL this year, Kohli said the National Highways Authority of India has started awarding projects and disbursals should start in the later part of the April-June quarter next year.

In the first stimulus package announced in December last year, the government had allowed IIFCL to raise Rs 10,000 crore through tax-free bonds by March 2009 to support private partnership projects for highways and ports. It has not got any takers for the funds yet as “elections delayed bidding process”.

To meet its funding requirements for this year, IIFCL has raised Rs 3,000 crore through domestic bonds. It has also got a $1.2-billion loan from the World Bank and $700 million from the Asian Development Bank.

At the end of October 21, IIFCL had sanctioned Rs 20,888 crore for 95 projects in road, port, airport, power and urban infrastructure. The total cost of these projects is about Rs 1,68,026 crore. Of the 95 cases, financial closure has been achieved in 86 cases.