Mumbai, Aug 6: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has raised $400-million through the external commercial borrowings (ECBs) route at 25 basis points over the London interbank offerred rate (Libor).

The six-month loan comprises $300 million as a stand-by facility and the rest $100 million is a short-term facilty, which the company will have to repay after six months.

The pricing of the loan, which is considered to be the finest among domestic corporates, was transacted on a "stand-alone basis" by State Bank of India (SBI). Which means that the the bank has taken the entire amount of $400 million in its books. This ranks among the largest exposures taken by SBI, merchant banking sources said. The oil major has raised a six-month loan to fund imports, merchant banking sources said, while confirming the deal. Indian Oil has to date raised nearly $3 billion through the ECB route. The finance ministry has set a ceiling on the borrowing of the corporation through the ECB route at $3.5 billion for the current fiscal.

International bankers said the company had been raising money in the overseas debt market aggressively in the current financial year as it needed to fund imports and repay a part of its earlier loans. "IOC needs to fund imports of crude oil, estimated to be around 33 million tonnes, and also to repay some of its outstanding loans," an analyst at a leading foreign brokerage said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.