ICICI Bank

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Oct 2 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Life Insurance Company ICIR.NS on Friday appointed ICICI Bank ICBK.NS veteran Sidharatha Mishra as managing director and CEO for a five-year term, effective October 14.

Anup Bagchi, the company's current CEO, has resigned with effect from October 13, the company added.

Mishra, who has worked with ICICI Bank for more than 26 years, currently heads the lender's digital channels and partnerships, voice channel, customer services, non-resident Indian and international financial institutions groups.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, the country's largest private lender, announced Bagchi's appointment as CEO a day earlier on Thursday, the first time an outsider will lead the institution.

Bagchi will take charge at HDFC Bank with effect from October 27.

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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Rewrites, adding details about Bagchi and his career throughout

By Gopika Gopakumar

MUMBAI, Oct 1 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, the country's largest private lender, has appointed Anup Bagchi as its next chief executive for a period of three years, it said on Thursday, the first time an external candidate will lead the institution.

Bagchi, 55, succeeds Sashidhar Jagdishan, who decided in August not to seek reappointment after his second three-year term ends on October 26, triggering an unplanned and accelerated succession process.

He takes charge at a time when the country's largest private sector bank by market capitalisation is grappling with governance concerns and a slowing performance.

India's banking rules require banks to recommend at least two potential CEO candidates to the regulator. HDFC Bank had submitted the names of deputy managing director Kaizad Bharucha and outsider Bagchi to the Reserve Bank of India for approval, Reuters reported last month.

Bagchi, currently managing director and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, has previously held senior positions at India's second-largest private lender, ICICI Bank, where he led retail and wholesale banking operations. He also has extensive capital markets experience, having served as managing director and CEO of ICICI Securities for six years.

"While Bharucha was more familiar with the bank, this may matter less at CEO level. Anup Bagchi is great with stakeholder relations, including the governmental and regulatory ecosystem, coming from the ICICI group," said Shivaji Thapliyal, banks analyst at Yes Securities. "We see this as positive for HDFC Bank," he added.

HDFC Bank ADR shares were up nearly 5% following the announcement of the new CEO.

RESTORING INVESTOR CONFIDENCE

Jagdishan, who succeeded banking veteran Aditya Puri as head of HDFC Bank after 26 years, had been expected to continue as CEO despite having less than three years left before hitting a regulatory limit on maximum permissible tenure.

His departure comes just months after Chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned in March, saying certain practices at the bank were at odds with his "personal values and ethics". An independent legal review later found no evidence to substantiate Chakraborty's governance-related concerns.

The leadership changes have added to investor unease at a time when HDFC Bank has faced a prolonged period of stock underperformance following a merger with its parent company HDFC.

Net profit growth slowed to 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of the financial year to end-March 2027, coming in at 190.6 billion rupees ($1.98 billion), while its net interest margin fell to 3.26% compared to 4.36% at ICICI Bank.

Bagchi, an alumnus of India's leading technology and management institutes, faces the task of restoring investor confidence, reviving deposit growth and improving profitability as he manages the leadership transition.

"Bagchi is a well-rounded financial services professional. He also is a strong governance proponent, having served on several regulatory committees," said Vivek Ramji Iyer, a partner and national leader for the financial services risk advisory practice at Grant Thornton.

Former and present colleagues describe the new CEO as a leader known for clarity of thought and an ability to help teams focus on priorities, with an emphasis on efficiency and disciplined execution.

One former colleague cited his use of the acronym "ROTI" - also an Indian bread - standing for "return on time invested", a principle he uses to encourage employees to focus on high-impact work.

(Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar, Ashwin Manikandan and Kashish Tandon, Editing by Louise Heavens
Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)

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ICICI Bank said the Reserve Bank of India had authorised ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company to acquire an aggregate holding of up to 9.95% in CSB Bank, DCB Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and AU Small Finance Bank. The approvals were issued on September 8 and require the applicant to acquire the major shareholding within one year, failing which they will lapse. ICICI Bank reported FY26 advances of ₹15,539 billion and profit after tax of ₹50,147 crore. Earlier in September, it had disclosed buying about 2% of ICICI Prudential Life for roughly ₹1,470 crore, taking its holding to about 52.8%.

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ICICI Bank reported provisional gross mobilisation of about USD 17.88 billion (₹1,702 billion) under the Reserve Bank of India’s FCNR(B) deposit swap facility through August 31, 2026. Its international branches and subsidiaries had provided about USD 9 billion (₹856 billion) in loans against those deposits, while standby letters of credit issued to other banks amounted to about USD 3.63 billion (₹346 billion). The bank’s dollar-denominated bond issuance during July and August totalled about USD 3.55 billion (₹338 billion). The borrowing comprised USD 750 million, USD 1 billion and USD 500 million senior unsecured note tranches raised under its USD 7.5 billion Global Medium Term Note programme.

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Sept 2 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Limited ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK - GROSS MOBILISATION OF FCNR(B) DEPOSITS UP TO AUG 31 2026 AT $17.88 BILLION

• ICICI BANK - INTERNATIONAL BRANCHES LOANS AGAINST DEPOSITS ARE USD 9.00 BILLION

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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Aug 31 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Limited ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK - PRICES USD 500 MILLION SENIOR UNSECURED FIXED RATE NOTES

• ICICI BANK - DRAWDOWN UNDER USD 7.5 BILLION GLOBAL MEDIUM TERM NOTE PROGRAMME

Source text: ID:nBSE7FBHCb

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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BENGALURU, Aug 26 (Reuters) - British insurer Prudential Plc PRU.L plans to sell up to a 2% stake in ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company IICL.NS through the open market to help meet minimum public shareholding requirements, the companies said on Wednesday.

The sale will value the stake at around 31.9 billion rupees ($333.3 million) as of last close.

Under Indian regulations, large companies that list with less than 15% public shareholding have five years to raise their public float to at least 15%, and 10 years to reach 25%.

The proposed sale would reduce the shareholding of ICICI Prudential AMC's promoters — or controlling shareholders — to 85.6%.

Currently, the controlling shareholders hold a stake of 87.6%, with Prudential AMC holding a 34.6% share in the company.

"The sale is intended to support ICICI Prudential AMC as it progresses towards meeting India's minimum public float requirement of 15% within five years of its initial public offering on December 19, 2025," Prudential said in a statement.

($1 = 95.4125 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, India's second-largest private lender, is tapping the U.S. dollar-denominated bond market for the fourth time in a month, under the central bank's discounted window, which will push overall issuances by banks above $10 billion.

ICICI Bank is planning to raise $1 billion through private placement of five-year bonds at a coupon of 5.41%, two merchant bankers said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to media.

The private bank did not reply to Reuters' query seeking comment.

The latest placement will take the aggregate funds raised by ICICI Bank under the Reserve Bank of India's discounted window to $3.05 billion, leading the charts.

It has also helped ICICI Bank overtake HDFC, the country's largest private-sector bank, which has raised an aggregate of $2.50 billion so far.

Towards the end of July, ICICI Bank raised $1 billion through a five-year paper at 100 basis points over Treasuries, with a 5.46% coupon, and that was its first issuance in nearly nine years.

In early August, the lender reissued these papers at a yield of 5.3520%, raising $300 million, while last week it raised $750 million through five-year papers at a spread of 105 basis points over Treasuries at a 5.4170% coupon.

The sale further extends a wave of offshore fundraising by Indian lenders after the central bank opened a concessional swap window for foreign-currency deposits, with total proceeds from bond issuances at $10.3 billion.

Banks have been able to raise cheaper funds since the window was announced on June 5, giving them rupee liquidity that can support lending and investment and help margins.

In the last few days, banks have been scrambling to complete their dollar issuances, with most funds being used to provide leverage to customers who will be depositing these funds under the discounted dollar deposit scheme.

Earlier this month, the RBI said the window provided to banks for hedging non-resident deposits would end a month early on August 31.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

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Aug 21 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Limited ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK - BOARD APPROVES OVERSEAS BORROWINGS UP TO USD 5 BILLION

Source text: ID:nBSE6B82RJ

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Four Indian private lenders have fast-tracked plans to raise dollar bonds before the end of August, seeking to take advantage of a central bank swap facility before its early closure, after larger peers ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and Axis Bank AXBK.NS raised more than $1 billion.

Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, YES Bank YESB.NS, IDFC First Bank IDFB.NS and Federal Bank FED.NS are together aiming to raise $1.85 billion through bond sales with maturities of up to five years, the bankers added.

Lenders are rushing to raise funds after the Reserve Bank of India last week said it would close a swap facility for FX deposits from non-resident Indians on August 31, a month earlier than planned.

Kotak Bank is leading the race as it has set its final price guidance at 108 basis points above U.S. Treasuries, 22 bps narrower than its initial guidance.

"Kotak Bank should be finalised before the end of this week, leaving the other three lenders scrambling for funds in the last week of August," one of the bankers said.

They all requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media. None of the banks responded to Reuters emails seeking comment.

YES Bank has appointed merchant bankers for a three-year bond offering, with investor calls scheduled for this week, the bankers said.

This will be the first time the private financier taps the offshore market after defaulting on its perpetual additional tier-1 bonds in 2020.

Federal Bank and IDFC First Bank, which are relatively smaller and are looking to debut in the dollar bond market, have just started scouting the market for investors, the bankers added.

The development comes after ICICI Bank raised $750 million through five-year bonds, 105 bps above Treasuries, while Axis Bank raised $300 million through three-year and three-month dollar bonds at a spread of 95 bps over Treasuries.

Indian banks have collectively raised $6.3 billion since the scheme was implemented on June 5, up from $850 million earlier this year, data from Cbonds showed, notching a record high for any calendar year.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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By Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra

MUMBAI, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Indian lenders are rushing dollar loan and bond issues over the next two weeks after the central bank unexpectedly advanced the end date for an FX swap facility that banks were using for hedging exposure to deposits raised from diaspora.

As part of a raft of measures to boost inflows, lenders were permitted to use these overseas borrowings to offer loans to non-resident Indians. Banks' overseas fundraising had also been subsidised.

Now, with the Reserve Bank of India announcing the closure of the forex swap window for August 31, a month earlier than initially planned, Indian private and state-run banks are on track to raise at least $5 billion through a combination of bonds and loans, four bankers said.

"Some of the fund raising plans have been brought forward to utilize the last few days," Akshay Naik, India head of debt capital markets at Citi, said.

"We will have one of the busiest windows for the next 6-8 days from India. Few institutions who are not ready may need to drop their plan if it was solely meant for FCNR leverage."

Large private-sector lenders such as ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and HDFC Bank HDBK.NS are in talks to raise about $1.5 billion each via dollar bonds and loans, while peers including Axis Bank AXBK.NS, YES Bank YESB.NS, RBL Bank RATB.NS and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS are planning to raise at least $500 million each through overseas debt markets, bankers said.

State-run lenders State Bank of India SBI.NS, Bank of Baroda BOB.NS, Punjab National Bank PNBK.NS, Canara Bank CNBK.NS, Union Bank of India UNBK.NS, Bank of India BOI.NS and Central Bank of India CBI.NS are targeting dollar raises of $250 million to $500 million each, with the larger banks likely to target bigger issues, the bankers said.

None of the lenders replied to Reuters emails seeking comment.

All the bankers declined to be named as the discussions are private.

BANKS ON TRACK FOR RECORD DOLLAR FUNDRAISING

Indian lenders have raised a combined $5.93 billion through dollar bond sales and loans so far this year, according to LSEG data through August 11.

The tally has climbed by another $1.2 billion, following debt sales by two large state-run lenders last week.

Over the last 15 years, banks' annual foreign borrowing topped $6 billion on three occasions, including in 2013, when the RBI had opened a swap window.

"Would expect $5-7 billion of additional bond and loan issuances for the remainder of year," Naik said.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - State Bank of India SBI.NS, the country's largest lender, drew strong demand in its return to the public dollar bond market after nearly a year, with pricing tightening sharply from initial guidance, three merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

SBI raised $500 million through a five-year dollar bond issued via its London branch, the lender said in a stock exchange filing late on Tuesday.

These bonds will be priced at a spread of 88 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, sharply below initial guidance of 120 bps. The notes carry a coupon of 5.25%, payable semi-annually.

The final spread was broadly in line with CreditSights' expectation of 90 basis points, although the research firm expects it to tighten further to around 80 basis points in the secondary market.

Spreads on dollar bonds issued by Indian borrowers have widened in recent weeks on expectations of heavy supply following the Reserve Bank of India's swap concession window, while demand has been tempered by attractive rates on foreign-currency deposits.

"As we had anticipated, some of this spread premium has begun to fade as supply is absorbed... We have an outperform recommendation on SBI," CreditSights analysts said in a note.

The lender witnessed tightest pricing, after ICICI Bank sold notes at 100 bps, while HDFC Bank sold notes at a spread of 90 bps over Treasuries.

SBI had planned to raise $1 billion through a public dollar bond issue in June, but deferred the sale due to higher borrowing costs following heavy issuance by Indian lenders.

The bank subsequently raised $600 million through a private placement of three-year dollar bonds at a spread of 100 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

The issue comes at a time when Indian banks are making a beeline for dollar issues after the RBI's swap facility announced in June made overseas borrowing cheaper.

Large private lenders, including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have raised funds through dollar bonds in June and July.

Meanwhile, bankers expect SBI to tap the market again in a few weeks for raising dollars, as the board has approved raising of up to $2 billion through bonds sold in dollar or any other major currency in this financial year.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Aug 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - That Indian banks would sport higher book value multiples than their Western peers used to be almost as reliable as the sun coming up in the morning. Even after a lending crisis last decade, the country retained the lead, with $118 billion HDFC Bank HDBK.NS often at the front. Not any longer. A resurgence of players like HSBC HSBA.L and JPMorgan JPM.N as well as the rise of India’s capital markets have both landed blows on the sector. In HDFC’s case, its own governance and margin woes have completed a triple whammy.

The Mumbai-based bank run by Sashidhar Jagdishan currently trades at less than 2 times its estimated book value 12 months from now, per LSEG data. A few years ago, most developed-market peers could only dream of such a level. Now, thanks to resurgent earnings and, in the U.S. at least, a regulatory proposal to cut capital requirements, they sport book multiples most have not worn since the 2008 financial crisis. JPMorgan’s, for example, is now at 2.5 times; the new king of the metric is $206 billion Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX at 3.7 times.

Meanwhile, many Indian banks are struggling to hoover up low-cost deposits as savers look for higher yields in the stock market. That’s hurting net interest margins, with HDFC’s and Axis Bank's expected to fall again this financial year, per estimates collated by Visible Alpha. Industry-wide bank deposits dropped to around one-third of household financial savings in the 13 years to the end of March 2025, while equity and mutual funds grew sevenfold to over 15%, government data show.

HDFC, though, has also shot itself in the foot. In 2020 the Reserve Bank of India barred it from issuing new credit cards after recurring online shutdowns. A 2023 merger with its mortgage-lender parent failed to live up to its promise. In March its chair resigned citing ethical differences with management. Last month the board fined top executives including Jagdishan for improprieties in deposit pricing while exonerating their actions as "business overreach". The successive crises reflect poorly on Aditya Puri, HDFC's Managing Director and CEO from its inception in 1994 until 2020.

It’s not alone. The $41 billion Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS trades at 2.5 times forward book value that’s half its 2019 peak, having been beset by a poorly handled leadership transition and business restrictions akin to HDFC's.

Lifting those curbs has done little for either firm’s valuation. Not all the country’s lenders are suffering from valuation blues: $107 billion ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has undergone a successful turnaround and trades at nearly 3 times book. But HDFC’s path back to the top has too many obstacles.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

HDFC Bank on July 27 said it would issue warning letters and impose a penalty of 100,000 ​rupees ($1,045.51) each on CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, its chief financial officer ​and its head of retail assets for their role in offering preferential deposit rates to a state agency.

The bank's board concluded that its executives involved in setting deposit rates for the agency ​had engaged in business overreach, rather than acting for ‌personal gain.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Two Indian private sector lenders have tapped U.S. dollar denominated debt market for the second time in less than two months, to raise $300 million each, two merchant bankers said on Friday.

Here are a few details of the issues:

• ICICI Bank ICBK.NS will issue five-year bonds at a coupon of 5.3520%, payable semi-annually

• Axis Bank AXBK.NS will raise these funds through reissue of its 5.3480% June 2031 bonds, which will take the outstanding issuance to $600 million

• Both the debt placements will close for subscription next week and will be placed privately

• Last month, ICICI Bank raised $1 billion through five-year bonds at a coupon of 5.46%, in what was the largest such issue by an Indian lender in nearly 14 years

• In June, Axis Bank had raised $800 million through a dual-tranche debt issuance, which included the primary sale of the five-year papers and $500 million of perpetual notes at a 6.875% annual coupon, payable semi-annually

• The notes will be listed on the India International Exchange IFSC and NSE IFSC

• The bonds are being issued under the Reserve Bank of India's lower-cost hedging facility that allows eligible external commercial borrowings by banks and state-owned companies to be hedged at a fixed rate of 1.5% per annum, compounded semi-annually, and lowers overall cost of borrowing

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia)

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By Vivek Kumar M

Aug 5 (Reuters) - India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI has swung sharply following the launch of a new method for calculating closing prices for stocks with derivatives contracts.

The volatility triggered a rare divergence with the BSE Sensex .BSESN for a third straight session on Wednesday and led to heavy losses for traders.

The Nifty 50 is a 50-stock blue-chip index, with HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS accounting for more than 27% of its weight. The Sensex comprises 30 stocks, all of which are also part of the Nifty 50.

WHAT IS THE NEW METHOD TO DETERMINE CLOSING PRICE?

India on Monday introduced the Closing Auction Session (CAS), a separate 20-minute window that begins at 3:15 p.m. IST after regular trading ends in eligible stocks.

During this window, exchanges collect buy and sell orders. Order entry closes at a random time between 3:28 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. IST, after which trades are matched to determine the closing price at which the maximum volume can be executed.

The new system replaces an earlier method under which closing prices were based on the average price of trades executed in the final 30 minutes of continuous trading. Stocks without futures and options contracts continue to use the old method.

WHY HAS THE NEW METHOD TRIGGERED DIVERGENCES BETWEEN THE NIFTY AND THE SENSEX?

The National Stock Exchange of India said the two bourses maintain separate order books, which means individual stock prices can differ between exchanges, leading to a divergence in indexes closing levels.

In regular trading, dealers have access to bid and offer prices, while the new mechanism does not offer that visibility in the last 20 minutes of trading.

The divergence could also stem from the varying weightages of individual stocks across the two indexes, with the NSE drawing substantially higher institutional volume in the cash market than BSE.

WHY WAS CAS INTRODUCED?

The new process, which brings India closer to how global markets operate, was introduced to provide a fair and transparent closing price, and improve the efficiency of execution for large orders.

WHAT HAPPENED ON TUESDAY

The sharp jump in the Nifty 50 at Tuesday's close, coinciding with the expiry of its weekly derivatives contracts, caused sudden swings in options premiums.

The move left some traders nursing losses, with several saying the 20-minute closing auction gave them little visibility on where the Nifty 50 would settle.

WHEN WILL THE DIVERGENCES IN INDEX CLOSE PRICES END?

Market participants expect the gap to narrow as more traders and institutions participate. Kotak Mutual Fund said in a note to investors that it expects pricing inefficiencies to ease as the market adjusts to the new system.

"While the initial days may witness valuation volatility and temporary price dislocations, we expect market behaviour to normalize over time as participants adapt to the new framework," it said.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the regulator was unlikely to review the system immediately and expects issues to settle soon.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Arbitrage funds, which hold positions in both the cash and futures markets, were among the biggest beneficiaries of the unexpected jump in closing prices.

As cash market prices surged while futures prices lagged, a clear arbitrage opportunity emerged.

Many retail traders, meanwhile, were caught off guard by the sharp price swings and incurred losses.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Jayshree P Upadhyay and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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July 30 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK - COMPLETES USD 1 BILLION SENIOR UNSECURED FIXED RATE NOTES ISSUANCE

Source text: ID:nBSE7CDv6M

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, July 24 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has priced a $1 billion five-year dollar bond at a much tighter spread than initially indicated, in the largest such issue by an Indian lender in nearly 14 years, three bankers said.

The bank set the coupon at 100 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, sharply lower the initial guidance of 130 basis points, for its first dollar debt sale in nearly nine years. The coupon works out to be 5.46%.

The offering attracted $3 billion in bids against a base issue size of $500 million, the bankers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

ICICI Bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The deal is the largest dollar bond sale by an Indian private-sector bank, and the second biggest by any local lender since State Bank of India's $1.25 billion five-year issue in January 2013.

The private bank becomes the latest to leverage the central bank's lower-cost hedging facility, after the Reserve Bank of India last month introduced a swap facility allowing eligible external commercial borrowings by banks and state-owned companies to be hedged at a fixed rate of 1.5% per annum, compounded semi-annually.

The measure significantly lowers hedging costs, making overseas dollar fundraising more attractive.

CreditSights had projected the bond to be priced at a spread of 95-100 bps, but places the fair value at 85 bps.

Analysts Lim Ze Hao and Pramod Shenoi said ICICI Bank's bonds were fairly valued at broadly flat to HDFC Bank's debt and around 10 bps tighter than State Bank of India's four-year dollar bonds after accounting for duration premium.

In June, HDFC Bank had raised $750 million through a five-year dollar debt sale at a spread of 92 bps over Treasuries. In the secondary market, it was traded at a spread of 94 bps.

Another private sector peer Axis Bank had raised an aggregate of $800 million through a dual-tranche dollar bond issue in June.

The proceeds from ICICI Bank's issue will be used for general corporate purposes. The bonds are expected to be rated "Baa3" by Moody's and "BBB" by S&P Global, in line with the issuer.

In December 2017, ICICI Bank had raised $500 million through 10-year bonds at a coupon of 3.80%.

CreditSights has also upgraded its recommendation on these bonds to "outperform" from "market perform" earlier.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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Updates with closing levels

By Vivek Kumar M

July 21 (Reuters) - SBI Funds Management SBIA.NS ended 6.2% higher in its stock market debut on Tuesday, valuing the firm at nearly $13 billion, as investors bet on growth in the country's $853 billion asset management industry.

Shares of India's largest asset manager closed at 609.75 rupees, valuing the firm at 1.24 trillion rupees ($12.89 billion) and making it the country's second-most valuable listed fund manager.

Peers ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company IICL.NS and HDFC Asset Management Company HDFA.NS were valued at 1.56 trillion rupees and 1.11 trillion rupees, respectively.

SBI Funds, a joint venture between State Bank of India SBI.NS, the country's largest lender, and Amundi AMUN.PA, Europe's biggest asset manager, oversaw assets worth 12.5 trillion rupees as of March 2026.

SBI Funds' $1.03 billion IPO, India's biggest so far this year, attracted about $31 billion of bids last week, including $278.5 million from anchor investors such as BlackRock and sovereign wealth funds from Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Norway.

Amundi CEO Valerie Baudson said the European firm will remain a long-term shareholder of SBI Funds.

The listing marks the start of a busier second half for large IPOs in India's primary market after the activity slowed due to a surge in crude prices linked to the Iran conflict.

SBI Funds listed short of expectations as analysts had estimated debut gains of 12% to 13%.

India's Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 0.2% on Tuesday, weighed down by firmer crude oil prices as the Gulf conflict escalated.

Analysts led by Emkay Global Financial Services' Avinash Singh said India's growing middle class was embracing mutual funds, positioning SBI AMC to expand its dominance in the sector.

India has seen IPOs worth about $5 billion so far in 2026, below a record $21.8 billion last year, LSEG-compiled data showed.

Some 251 companies, including Reliance Jio and the National Stock Exchange of India, are in the IPO pipeline, seeking to raise 4.93 trillion rupees, according to capital market data provider PRIME Database.

($1 = 96.2350 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M, additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain in Paris; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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