HSBC was No 1 for India loans in 2023 helped by Reliance deals

HSBC Holdings ranked first among arrangers for Indian offshore loans last year, toppling Japanese lenders from the top spot they’d held since 2020.

Data compiled by Bloomberg show the British bank was the bookrunner on roughly US$4 billion of US-currency transactions in 2023. Borrowing by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group contributed to HSBC’s business. Reliance took out a total of US$6.4 billion last year via multiple banks, according to the statistics.

As one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies with an urgent need for infrastructure spending, India attracted international debt investors. Loans proved particularly popular in 2023 because they were faster to arrange and less expensive than bonds.

The volume of overseas loans taken out by Indian companies hit its highest since 2016 last year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

“India is poised for growth and remains one of the key focus markets of HSBC,” Ashish Sharma, head of loan syndications, Apac at HSBC, was quoted as saying by a spokesperson when Bloomberg asked about the data.

HSBC won business from state-backed banks, including a US$1 billion term loan facility from the State Bank of India, according to Chetan Joshi, the bank’s head of debt financing in the country.

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A representative of Reliance did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment. BLOOMBERG