The country’s largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI), on Wednesday said it has raised an additional $1 billion (around Rs 7,350 crore) loan from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to help Covid-hit Japanese auto manufacturers in India.
In October last year, the SBI had signed an agreement to raise a loan of $1 billion. Therefore, the latest borrowing takes the total amount of loans raised from JBIC to $2 billion.
The SBI said in a statement that the loan is in the form of re-finance against the funding support provided to the manufacturers, suppliers and dealers of Japanese automobiles in India whose business activities were affected by Covid-19.
The bank added that the loan is intended to promote smooth flow of funds for the whole range of business operations of Japanese automobile manufacturers in India.
JBIC is a policy-based financial institution, wholly owned by the Japanese government.
“At a time people are preferring personal mode of transport, this collaboration between the SBI and JBIC will help the bank in extending loan facility to the entire supply chain of Japanese automobile industry, including suppliers, dealers and ultimately the end users,” SBI chairman Dinesh Khara said.
