Jio Finance, a shadow lender owned by Asia’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani, is in talks with several lenders to make its first foray into the local currency debt market, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company is expected to tap the market – either through a loan or bond offering – as early as the Jan-March quarter, a typically busy season for credit growth in India. The money will be used to onlend to industry, said the people, who asked not be identified as the discussions are private. The size and terms of borrowing are still being finalised, they added. The move comes as tighter rules by RBI make it harder for shadow lenders to raise local currency bank loans.