ICICI Bank 2008 Annual Report Download - page 40

Fiscal 2008 saw continued demand for credit from the corporate sector, with growth and additional investment
demand across all sectors. We were able to leverage our international presence and deep corporate relationships
to work on overseas acquisitions made by Indian companies and infrastructure projects in India. During fiscal 2008
we were involved in 75% of outbound mergers and acquisitions deals from India. We are now a preferred partner
for Indian companies for syndication of external commercial borrowings and other fund raising in international
markets and have been ranked number one in offshore loan syndications of Indian corporates in calendar year
2007.
The resurgence of the Indian economy, the need for infrastructure development and the international expansion
of Indian companies provide exciting opportunities for our corporate banking business. We believe that we are
well-placed to capitalise on these opportunities by combining our domestic and international balance sheets, and
our credit and structured financing expertise.
Project Finance
The Indian economy is witnessing significant investments with the investment pipeline projected at US$ 700.0
billion over the next few years. Our project finance proposition is based on our constant endeavour to contribute
to the project framework and enhance the bankability of projects through our innovative structuring skills, sectoral
knowledge and robust due diligence techniques. In fiscal 2008, we consolidated our lead arranger position across
a variety of signature project finance transactions in diverse sectors and also forayed into select international
project finance transactions.
We believe that there is significant potential in the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. The power sector is
expected to witness large investments involving significant capacity additions of more than 70 gigawatts over the
next five years predominantly driven by increased private sector participation. The ultra mega power projects,
increasing interest in hydroelectric generation, and offering of transmission projects through competitive bidding
are expected to provide attractive funding opportunities.
In the transportation sector, road development is being undertaken across both the national highways (through
the National Highway Development Programme) and the state highways. The port sector has been witnessing
traffic growth of over 14% per annum for the last few years with increased participation of the private sector and
international players. There is an increased focus on the railways sector with investments expected in modernisation
of railway stations, logistic parks and dedicated freight corridors.
The modernisation, upgradation and expansion of metro and non-metro airports are underway and are expected
to provide significant business opportunities in the future. In addition to the Delhi and Mumbai airports, which
have already been transferred to private developers, the airports at Kolkata and Chennai are also proposed to
be modernised through a suitable model. Greenfield airports are also proposed to be set up at key business
and tourist destinations, such as Bangalore and Hyderabad, which have already seen project completion under
private management.
The telecom sector is expected to see continued growth given the relatively low teledensity and the fresh impetus
provided by the issuance of new licenses, which would result in large investments in rollout of new networks
alongside the network expansion of existing service providers.
The oil and gas sector is witnessing activity across the entire value chain, from exploration and production through
increased private sector participation under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, to setting up of large-scale
refineries by both public sector and private sector players.
The manufacturing sector has seen significant capacity additions being undertaken and planned including greenfield
projects in steel, aluminium and cement. Strong growth in infrastructure, real estate and demand for consumer
goods and automobiles is expected to increase the demand for steel, aluminium and cement. India’s advantage
in terms of low cost of manufacturing and availability of talent has led to several foreign majors setting up large
capacities in auto, auto ancillaries and engineering industries to meet the growing domestic demand and also as
a manufacturing hub to serve global markets.
Business Overview
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