Hudco plans to raise up to Rs 23,000 crore to fund infra projects

Housing and Urban Development Finance Corporation Ltd (Hudco) plans to raise up to Rs 23,000 crore through a range of instruments by the end of March 2024 to fund the sanctioned projects and repayments for maturing instruments.

It has mopped up about Rs 12,000 crore in the nine months ended December 2023. The board has approved a proposal to hike the borrowing limit from Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 35,000 crore, said Sanjay Kulshrestha, Chairman and Managing Director, HUDCO, in a media interaction after the Q3 FY24 results.

It raised Rs 5,476 crore through medium-term loans, Rs 2,782 crore through short-term credit, and Rs 1,500 crore via taxable bonds in April-December 2023, according to the presentation for the quarter ended December 2023 (Q3 FY24) results.

Besides market borrowing, HUDCO is talking to lenders for External Commercial Borrowings. The actual fund raise will depend on market conditions with a focus on reducing the cost of funds, he said.

Its debt-to-equity ratio, reflecting leverage, stood at 3.87 times as of the end of December 2023. The leverage is modest, and there is enough headroom to raise funds with a net worth of Rs 16,247 crore at the end of December 2023, the company executives said.

The pipeline of sanctioned projects is over Rs 40,000 crore. They cover projects in urban infrastructure space, roads, and housing. Meanwhile, it held discussions with the Maharashtra government for funding various urban infrastructure projects valued at over Rs 30,000 crore in the state, Kulshrestha said.

Its outstanding loans stood at Rs 84,424 crore, of which urban infrastructure exposure was Rs 41,308 crore and housing was Rs 43,116 crore at the end of December 2023.

Its net profit doubled to Rs 519.19 crore in the third quarter ended December 2023 from Rs 254.32 crore a year ago. Its total income rose to Rs 2,022.94 crore in Q3 FY24 from Rs 1,719.58 crore in Q3 FY23.

The public sector entity, where the Government of India holds about a 74 per cent stake, is in the process of registering as an Infrastructure Finance Company with the Reserve Bank of India.