L&T Infrastructure Finance Company is planning to tap the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route to raise fresh funds sometime during the first half of the next fiscal.

“As per existing norms, we can automatically raise through the ECB route 50 per cent of our net worth, which was about Rs 1,111 crore as on September 30, 2010. But we will not be considering this route this fiscal due to market conditions,” Mr Ramesh Bhujang, Vice-President (Risk & Asset Management), told press persons here on Thursday.

The company is in the process of raising up to Rs 400 crore through a public issue of long-term infrastructure bonds — the issue opened for subscription on February 7 and will close on March 7.

Will wait for fiscal-end

“We will wait till the end of the fiscal, as by then our net worth would be larger, which would give us more headroom to raise funds through the automatic ECB route. We will take a decision in the first half of next fiscal,” he said.

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