Summary of Proposed Investment
Project Number
8251
Company Name
IDFC LIMITED
Date SPI Disclosed
Oct 2, 1997
Country
India
Industry
Financial Markets
Status
Completed
Sector
Capital Markets Financing Company (Including Investment Banking)
Department
Global Industry, Financial Markets
Environmental Category
FI
Previous Events
Approved : Oct 7, 1997
Signed : Mar 25, 1998
Invested : Mar 26, 1998
Project Description
REVISED Summary Of Project Information (SPI)
| Project Name | INDIA - Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited |
| Region | Asia |
| Sector |
Projected Board DateOctober 7, 1997
Company NameInfrastructure Development Finance Company Limited
Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders
Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) has been set up to address the scarcity of long-term financing for private infrastructure projects in India. IDFC will focus on innovative ways to create instruments to unbundle and mitigate risks for investors in infrastructure projects, to promote the development of local long-term bond markets and to develop expertise in structured financing for infrastructure. Although IDFC has been promoted by the Government of India, it will have majority private sector ownership, with an independent Board and a strong commercial orientation. Apart from IFC, the significant private sector and institutional shareholders in IDFC include life insurance companies, commercial banks and bilateral and multilateral institutions such as Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GSIC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC).
Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment
The proposed share capital of IDFC is Rs. 10 billion (US$285 million equivalent). The IFC investment will be for up to US$20 million in equity for up to 7% of the equity in IDFC.
Location of project and Description of site
IDFC was incorporated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on January 30, 1997. Its headquarter is in Chennai, but it also has a significant presence in Mumbai, the major financial center in India.
Description of Company and Purpose of Project
India needs to develop its infrastructure to sustain its economic growth and the demand for infrastructure investment is expected to grow susbstantially as the level of industrialization and modernization accelerates and the degree of urbanization increases. Existing financial institutions and banks are constrained by the time profile of their own liabilities and cannot prudently provide large volumes of long-term debt. Given the complexity of risks inherent in infrastructure projects, lenders and investors often perceive the project cash flows and the collateral as insufficient inducement to invest the amounts needed. IDFC’s credit enhancement and secondary market liquidity mechanisms, are expected to address these issues and thereby assist in deepening and broadening the domestic capital market. Through financial innovations and its high credit rating, IDFC would also be able to competitively mobilize long-term funds from the international capital markets.
IDFC will help create a long-term debt market for infrastructure projects in a way that will allow it to leverage its capital many more times than if it had acted as a direct lender. IDFC will complement the role of the existing financial institutions and banks in the financing of infrastructure projects in India by providing credit enhancement, offering stand-by liquidity facilities to lengthen maturities for loans to infrastructure projects, securitizing pools of infrastructure loans and offering other financing mechanisms to mobilize domestic and international investor funds.
Environmental Category and Issues
This is an Environmental Review category FI project. The Company has agreed in principle to establish an environmental management system; to ensure that investments made with IFC funds will be consistent with World Bank environmental, health and safety guidelines and policies, as well as the environmental requirements of India and to submit an annual performance report. Discussions are continuing between IFC, the Company and other significant multilateral and bilateral agencies on the exact procedure for review and clearance of all category A subprojects.
| Date SPI sent to PIC Revised | August 7, 1997 October 2, 1997 |
For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -
telephone: (202) 473-7711
facsimile: (202) 974-4384
Revised to change environmental category from C to FI.
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