Srei in plan to raise funds overseas

Srei International Finance will be raising funds overseas in 2004 to part-finance its infrastructure sector projects.

The company had raised close to Rs 600 crore at the beginning of this fiscal from its investors in Europe and IFC in Washington.

Srei acts as the investor firm for group ventures like Quipo, an equipment bank, and Bengal Shristi, its urban infrastructure venture in West Bengal, besides directly funding road and other infrastructure projects in the country.

Company director Hemant Kanoria indicated the funding requirement in the forthcoming fiscal was likely to be higher than this fiscal.

Major investments for the next financial year were being lined up and would include without doubt further expansion of its equipment bank Quipo.

In the current fiscal, equipment worth Rs 150 crore was added on. Quipo would be opening its third equipment hub at Hyderabad soon.

Import of equipment had become cheaper following reduction in import duties on most types of machinery.

Kanoria said two urban infrastructure projects were ready to take off of which one would be a 100-acre township project at Asansol in West Bengal.

Its 3 lakh square feet city centre complex at Durgapur in West Bengal was likely to be completed by end-2004 as well.

Srei expanded its funding of road projects in 2003 by taking up the financing of the Gurgaon expressway under the Prime Minister's Golden Quadrilateral project.

Several projects in southern India were in the pipeline.Meanwhile, Bengal Shristi, the Srei group's urban infrastructure venture, has signed on Big Bazaar of the Pantaloons retailing chain to be the anchor tenant at the shopping mall section in the 3 lakh square feet City Centre project.