Indian Banks Raise $4 Billion via Global Bonds; Trend to Continue

Mumbai, Aug 19 (PTI) Indian lenders have raised USD 4 billion in recent months through global bond issuances, and the trend is likely to continue in the remainder of the second half of 2026, one of the arrangers for such deals said on Wednesday.

The money has been raised between June 16 and August 13, starting with a USD 750 million issuance from the largest private sector lender HDFC Bank and the last such issuance was a cumulative USD 700 million fund raise by state-run Bank of Baroda through two instruments.

"With strong demand across recent transactions and continued international investor interest in Indian financial sector credit, this trend is expected to continue through the second half of 2026," Citi India said.

Without disclosing the exact amounts it has facilitated for Indian lenders, Citi said it has been "closely involved" in this trend.

The RBI in the first week of June announced a concessional forex swap facility along with other moves to attract more foreign currency into the country amid a sustained pressure on the rupee which was breaching lifetime lows.

While the more successful FCNR(B) deposits move has been cut short, banks continue to have time till December to raise money under the incentives offered by RBI.


Other transactions include USD 500 million fund raise by SBI, the largest Indian lender on August 11 through five-year paper, the Citi note said.

It also mentioned that at T+88 or 0.88 per cent over the US treasury bill, the SBI's fund raise achieved the tightest 5-year spread for an Indian bank since SBI's own issuance in last September.

ICICI Bank, the second largest among private sector banks, raised USD 1 billion from a 5-year paper at a spread of T+100, the statement said, adding that this was the largest USD senior bond issuance by an Indian private sector bank in nearly 14 years.

Earlier on June 23, Axis Bank had raised a cumulative USD 800 million through two instruments, including USD 300 million from a USD 5-year senior unsecured fixed rate notes at T+110 and the remaining USD 500 million from USD Perpetual NC5.5 RegS subordinated at1 fixed rate notes at 6.875 per cent, it said.

Many of the issuances were able to sizeable peak order books far exceeding the money to be raised, the note said, pointing to a demand of USD 2.1 billion generated by HDFC Bank's issuance and USD 2.4 billion by SBI's issuances.

It also added that lenders were able to squeeze the final pricing from the initial pricing guidance on the back of the higher demand.