Washington, D.C., June 23, 2003—
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has signed a $50 million loan agreement with Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Limited to support its ongoing investment program and new product development initiatives.
TELCO is a flagship company of the Tata group, one of India’s largest and oldest business groups. The company is among the world’s top ten commercial vehicle manufacturers as well as a domestic market leader for over 50 years. Since 1997 TELCO has been in the passenger car business. Its highest selling car now commands a market share of 15 percent in the domestic passenger car segment.
According to Mr. Praveen Kadle, Executive Director of TELCO, “This investment is an endorsement of TELCO’s plans and objectives and we look forward to a long-term partnership with IFC.”
Mr. Dimitris Tsitsiragos, IFC director for South Asia responded, “TELCO has had a remarkable turnaround and has demonstrated its engineering expertise by successfully developing and marketing world class passenger vehicles. IFC is glad to be supporting TELCO’s growth plans and to be associated with one of the most progressive business groups in India.”
The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets,
helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY02, IFC has committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC's worldwide committed portfolio as of FY02 was $15.1 billion for its own account and $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
