ONGC and BPCL excel in overseas fund raising; RIL lags behind

ONGC and BPCL are set to overtake Reliance Industries in overseas fund raising in FY17. Reliance was the topper among corporate India players in raising funds during the past five years.

Overseas fund raising by Indian companies declined 9.69 per cent to USD 19.02 billion in FY17 from USD 21.06 billion in FY16. BPCL and ONGC have raised USD 4.9 billion in 2016-17 against USD 1.65 billion raised by Reliance. ONGC raised USD 2 billion.

ONGC and BPCL raised USD 9.1 billion and USD 6.5 billion, respectively, in the past five years, as per the Reserve Bank of India.

Last year, a consortium of state-owned oil companies, led by ONGC, BPCL and Oil India had invested USD 3.2 billion to acquire stakes in two Russian oil fields. The consortium raised money at attractive interest rates as compared to domestic ones.

Going forward, the fund raising activity of Indian companies is anticipated to climb in FY18 on a revival in economic activity. Indian banks will not be able to meet growing fund raising demand from top corporates, and will borrow from abroad.

The stock price of ONGC increased 0.84 per cent in early trade, and is trading at Rs 184.8 on an intraday basis. The company has given more than 29 per cent returns to its shareholders over the past one year.