IIFCL lays out Rs 6,000 cr for core projects

NEW DELHI: India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) on Wednesday said it will lend Rs 6,000 crore to infrastructure projects this fiscal year, nearly double the amount it disbursed in 2008-09, and raise Rs 5,000 crore through taxable bonds to fund part of the disbursals.

Last fiscal, the state-owned infrastructure lending company disbursed Rs 3,200 crore for infrastructure projects. ���The bonds would carry a coupon rate of 7.9% with 15-year maturity,��� IIFCL chairman and managing director SS Kohli told reporters.

The company has till date disbursed Rs 4,900 crore to various infrastructure projects. In 2008-09 alone, it loaned Rs 3,200 crore, he added. This Rs 5,000-crore bond issue would be in addition to the Rs 30,000 crore that the government has allowed IIFCL to raise through tax-free papers to refinance infrastructure projects as part of second economic stimulus package announced in January.

The funds would be particularly used to refinance highways and port projects. IIFCL can lend up to 20% of the total cost of an infrastructure project, but its exposure should be less than that of the lead bank, Mr Kohli said. Incidentally, the company had raised Rs 10,000 crore in the last financial year through tax-free bonds.