HDFC BANK GETS GOVT NOD TO RAISE ~240 BILLION VIA FDI

The government on Wednesday approved the proposal of HDFC Bank to raise additional capital

of ~240 billion by selling equity to foreign investors to fund its business growth. This includes premium, over and above the previous approved limit of ~100 billion, that the composite foreign shareholding in the bank should not exceed 74 per cent of the enhanced paid-up equity share capital of the bank, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said. With the raising of this capital, FDI in the banks will hit the regulatory ceiling of 74 per cent, he added. Currently, FDI in the bank stands at 72.62 per cent.

Housing finance major HDFC has been ranked as the 5th biggest public company globally in the 'consumer financial services category' on a list compiled by Forbes magazine.

American Express has topped this category, while Indiabulls Housing Finance is the only other Indian company (at 13th place) on the list. In the consumer financial services category, HDFC's rank has moved up from 7th place last year.

Other consumer finance services companies that made it to the list include Capital One Financial at the 159 place, followed by Visa (164), Orix (254), PayPal (337), Synchrony Financial (340), Discover Financial Services (356), and Mastercard (367), among others. In the overall list, topped by China's banking behemoth ICBC, HDFC took 321st place, up from 404th a year ago. There are a total of 58 Indian companies on the overall list of 2,000 firms from across the world.

These include Reliance Industries at 83rd place, the only from India in the top-100. Besides, HDFC Bank is at 202nd, ONGC at 266th, Indian Oil at 270th and ICICI Bank at 320th.