Plan approved! HDFC Bank to raise whopping Rs 50k cr via debt securities

In a major development, HDFC Bank on Saturday said its board has approved proposal to raise up to Rs 50,000 crore in the next twelve months by issuing various debt securities. The decision was taken at the board of directors meeting held on June 20, 2020, HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing.

"The Board of Directors has approved the issue of perpetual debt instruments (part of additional tier I capital), tier II capital bonds and long term bonds (financing of infrastructure and affordable housing) up to a total amount of Rs 50,000 crore," HDFC Bank said.

The largest bank in the private sector said that it will raise the capital through in the period of next twelve months through private placement mode, subject to the approval of the shareholders at the ensuing annual general meeting (AGM) and any other regulatory approvals.

The bank's 26th AGM will be held on July 18, 2020 through video-conferencing /other audio-visual means, it said. 

Earlier, it was reported that HDFC Bank plans to expand the network of its mobile ATM service across the country. The service is currently available in 20 cities, including the National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, Indore and Jaipur.

The mobile operations gain significance amid the pandemic as concerns among the people regarding moving out are likely to persist for a longer period of time even after the lockdown is lifted.

With its successful operation across 20 cities, now the private lender wants to roll out the services in 30 more cities. The list of the cities where the bank plans to roll out its customer-friendly services include both tier-II and tier-III cities.

The new locations include Vadodara, Surat, Kota, Gurgaon, Nashik, Ludhiana, Jammu, Rajkot, Thiruvanthapuram, Trichy, Salem, Kanpur, Agra, Gorakhpur, Karnal, Muzaffarpur, Nagpur, Pondicherry, Siliguri, Mysore, Tirupati, Bhopal and Jamshedpur.

According to the company, all necessary precautions in terms of maintaining social distancing while queuing for the ATM and sanitisation are taken to ensure the safety of staff and customers at the mobile ATMs.