New Delhi, July 06: Following EPFO's footsteps, banks and financial institutions will help Industrial Finance Corporation of India bring down its interest costs by recasting debts worth over Rs 2,700 crore.
According to the debt-restructuring scheme, the maturity period of the SLR bonds issued by IFCI to banks and FIs has been extended by 10 years and the interest rate reduced from 11.5-13.5 to prevailing rates on government securities (at about 6-7 per cent), official sources said. The move comes days after Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) agreed for partial roll-over of IFCI's debts worth over Rs 1,000 crore by extending the maturity period of non-SLR bonds by 10 years and reducing the interest rate to 10 per cent from 12-14 per cent.
Government and stakeholders approved IFCI's plan of restructuring its liabilities worth over Rs 12,000 crore last fiscal to pull up the country's oldest FI out of the red.
IFCI had issued government guaranteed bonds worth about Rs 2,100 crore to public sector banks and FIs and another Rs 600-650 crore to private banks and other entities at a coupon rate of 11.5-13.5 per cent, FI sources said.

Bureau Report