The BRICS’ New Development Bank has already made its first infrastructure loan of 2024, a $500 million loan to India for a major road project in Gujurat State. This loan is denominated in a combination of dollars and rupee. Perhaps more significantly, the NDB plans $3 billion worth of Maharaja Bonds issued in rupee denomination over 2024-28. “Maharaja Bonds” is the term for bonds issued in India’s bond market, in rupee, by foreign banks or firms; the equivalent of foreign “Panda Bonds” in China’s domestic bond markets.
NDB Chief Operating Officer Vladimir Kazbekov, who has been an executive of the Russian National Development Bank (VEB, Vnesheconombank) for 15 years, was quoted Jan. 12 by the Times of India: “This will be a medium-term program through which NDB aims to raise resources in local currency up to Rs25,000 crore [$3 billion] over the next five years…. Regulatory approvals for the maiden NDB bond offering is awaited and will likely be completed soon.”
