Mumbai, Mar 20: Great Eastern Shipping Company plans to raise up to $70 million through a syndicated loan in overseas markets, a market source said. The core size of the loan is $50 million with a greenshoe option of $ 20 million. The loan will be split into three tranches, carrying maturities of three, six and seven years respectively. The three tranches will carry a margin of 110, 127 and 136 basis points over the London Inter-bank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, respectively, the source said. The syndication was launched earlier this week and is expected to be completed by mid-April. Citigroup is the sole arranger to the syndication. Several Indian companies and banks have raised foreign currency loans in recent months, drawn by lower interest rates overseas. A senior official at State Bank of India, the nation's largest commercial bank, told Reuters on Thursday the bank plans to raise $250 million abroad. The one-year loan is likely to be priced at 32 basis points over LIBOR. Top-rated Indian borrowers pay around 4.9-five per cent for five-year dollar loans against around 5.70 per cent in the local bond market. Earlier this week, the Indian central bank said it had approved applications for external commercial borrowings worth $473.2 million in February. Bureau Report