Srei Infrastructure to borrow $100 mn from Dutch firm

Kolkata, March 23 (IANS) Non-banking finance company Srei Infrastructure Finance plans to secure a $100-million external commercial borrowing from the Netherlands-based financial institution FMO, a top company official said here Monday.

This is over and above the $47-million exposure that FMO already has in the city-based company, Srei chairman and managing director Hemant Kanoria told reporters.

'We have tied up with FMO at a time when the global economic scenario is not good. This is our first external commercial borrowing. We have requested RBI (Reserve Bank of India - the apex Indian bank) to further relax the guidelines for external borrowings,' Kanoria added.

Maintaining that raising long-term funds in the current economic situation was 'impossible', he said his company would focus on financing small and medium infrastructure projects.

Srei notched up a business of Rs.50 billion between April and September 2008, but this dipped to Rs.3 billion in the third quarter beginning October.

'There was a slowdown of credit offtake in the third quarter this fiscal due to the economic meltdown, but we are hopeful we will do a business of Rs.10-12 billion in the fourth quarter,' Kanoria said.

The Dutch government holds 51 percent in FMO, which has a global investment portfolio of 3.4 billion euros ($4.66 billion).