EDC signs $600M in new business in India aimed at growth for Canadian firms

OTTAWA—As two-way trade between Canada and India grows, Export Development Canada has announced $600-million in financing it says will help facilitate new business for Canadian firms in that country.

During a trip to India in March, EDC says it concluded a $100-million financing agreement with Tata Steel Ltd.

According to EDC, the deal marks the second such loan it has provided to Tata Steel, following a $100-million loan in 2012, and reflects the increasing Canadian supply into Tata Steel’s supply chain, as well as their operations in Canada.

EDC also signed a protocol agreement with Aditya Birla Group (ABG), under which EDC will make available up to $500-million in financing for the Indian multinational.

Two-way trade between Canada and India reached $5.1-billion in 2012, according to the Crown corporation, and EDC views the Indian market as a corporate priority.

“All of EDC’s work in India is geared towards one objective—to facilitate access for Canadian exporters and investors to opportunities created not only by India’s infrastructure development plans, but by all of the secondary sub-sectors that feed into it as well,” EDC vice-president of international business development Todd Winterhalt said in a statement.

More than 306 Canadian companies undertook more than $2-billion in business with India that was facilitated by EDC, the agency says.

Its Indian infrastructure strategy is designed to help Canadian companies gain access to some of the $1-trillion in planned infrastructure spending in the booming country over the next five years.