India Exim Bank Raises $1 Billion in Historic Dual-Tranche USD Bond Issuance
New Delhi: India Exim Bank has successfully raised USD 1 billion through a dual-tranche senior unsecured bond issuance, split equally between a 10-year USD 500 million tranche and a 30-year USD 500 million tranche in the 144A/Reg-S format. This milestone makes India Exim Bank the first Indian banking financial institution to issue a 30-year USD bond in international markets, setting a new benchmark for the sector.
The bonds were priced at 85 basis points over the 10-year US Treasury and 95 basis points over the 30-year US Treasury, representing the lowest spreads achieved by any Indian issuer in public USD bond markets for these tenors. The 10-year tranche was priced inside India Exim Bank’s secondary curve, and the 10 bps spread differential between the 10-year and 30-year tranches is the tightest for any USD bond issuer from Asia ex-Japan in the last five years.
Investor participation was broad and geographically diverse: 59% of bonds went to Asia, 13% to EMEA, and 28% to the USA. Institutional allocations were led by asset and fund managers (73%), followed by banks (11%), insurance and pension funds (8%), and other investors.
The transaction was managed by BofA Securities, Citigroup, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Chartered Bank as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners. India Exim Bank maintains strong credit ratings, with Baa3 (Stable) from Moody’s, BBB (Stable) from S&P, BBB- (Stable) from Fitch, and BBB+ (Stable) from CareEdge.
Commenting on the issuance, Harsha Bangari, Managing Director of India Exim Bank, said:
"The successful issuance highlights the strength and depth of our investor base in offshore capital markets. The strong demand for the 30-year tranche reflects global investor confidence in India’s economy and India Exim Bank. This issuance underscores our market access and prominent footprint in international capital markets."
Deepali Agrawal, Deputy Managing Director, added:
"The quasi-sovereign nature of the Bank, strong credit profile, and EMBIG index eligibility of the bonds generated exceptional interest, with a peak order book of USD 8 billion+, the highest ever for any Indian financial institution. The quality of the book allowed us to move quickly and achieve significant price tightening."
This landmark issuance reinforces India Exim Bank’s position as a pioneer in international financial markets and a trusted vehicle for raising long-term USD funding.