PNB Housing Finance raises $100 mn from IFC for affordable housing projects

PNB Housing Finance Ltd on Monday said it has raised $100 million (around Rs 690 crore) from International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to finance the purchase of affordable housing projects.  

"The investment was made under the central bank's automatic route in the revamped external commercial borrowings (ECB) framework," PNB Housing Finance Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

PNB Housing Finance Managing Director Sanjaya Gupta said this is the first ECB disbursement during the current financial year under the RBI automatic route. Several other ECB proposals are in the pipeline.   

"The RBI has allowed us to borrow ECB up to $750 million annually under the automatic route and considering the strong fundamentals and inherent growth of the company, we are hopeful that in the coming months our company will further utilise the facility," he said.

IFC South Asia Manager Financial Institutions Group Hemalata Mahalingam said: "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... Our partnership with PNB Housing Finance will help them further expand to smaller towns and cities and reach low-income customers with loans to buy homes and help raise their living standards".