External Commercial Borrowings Cross $3 B In February

Indian companies mopped up a over $3 billion, about Rs 13,000 crore, through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in February 2007, according to figures provided by the Reserve Bank of India. As many as 86 firms mobilised money abroad during the month. In January 2007, 81 companies raised about $1.29 billion. The figures for March 2007 are not available yet. All together, about 812 companies have raised about $20.24 billion through ECBs in the April 2006-February 2007 period. That would be equivalent to about Rs 88,000 crore. Domestic loans given by banks during fiscal 2007 were about Rs 4,15,000 crore. There have been reports that the Government plans to hike the cap on ECB currently fixed at $18 billion to about $22 billion. The top fundraiser in February was Reliance Industries, which raised $700 million, followed by Reliance Communication, which raised $500 million.