SBI, Exim Bank of Korea ink $500-m credit line

State Bank of India (SBI) and Export-Import Bank of Korea (K-Exim) on Wednesday concluded a $500-million (about ₹3,300 crore) line of credit.

With the signing of this line of credit (LoC), the total facility from K-Exim to SBI will be $1 billion. The latest facility will have a maturity of a maximum 15 years.

The agreement was signed by Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI, and Duk Hoon Lee, Chairman and President, K-Exim. Bhattacharya said there is huge opportunity for Korean companies to take part in the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ mission.

This LoC will help SBI in arranging long-term foreign currency funds to finance Korean companies setting up manufacturing units or Indian corporates sourcing goods from joint ventures or subsidiaries of Korean companies having manufacturing set-up in India which will be a push to the mission, she added.

Meanwhile, SBI has opened its first branch in South Korea, PTI has reported. The Seoul branch is expected to play an important role in strengthening economic partnership between the two nations, the bank’s Managing Director B Sriram said in a statement. With over 135 branches, SBI has the largest presence in foreign markets among domestic banks.