NEW DELHI, May 28: Reliance Industries Limited executed the largest-ever Samurai loan raised by an Indian corporate and completed three first-of-their-kind global financing deals in FY 2025-26, as the conglomerate strengthened its access to international capital markets following a credit rating upgrade by S&P Global Ratings.
S&P upgraded Reliance’s international debt rating to A- from BBB+ in December 2025, placing the company two notches above India’s sovereign rating, citing the growing contribution of its consumer-facing businesses and improved earnings stability.
The upgrade is expected to widen Reliance’s access to overseas capital pools and lower borrowing costs. Moody’s Ratings rates the company at Baa2, one notch above sovereign, while domestic agencies CRISIL, CARE Ratings, ICRA Limited and India Ratings and Research maintain AAA (Stable) ratings.
According to the company’s latest annual report, Reliance raised JPY 91.9 billion, or about USD 625 million, through a Samurai loan involving 10 Japanese and Taiwanese banks, marking the largest such financing by an Indian corporate and the third-largest by an Asian corporate overall. The proceeds were used to refinance maturing yen-denominated debt.
The company also secured about USD 500 million equivalent in untied financing backed by Korea’s export credit agency KSURE, becoming the first corporate globally to access the product.
Separately, Reliance tied up about USD 600 million equivalent in untied facilities backed by Japan’s export credit agency NEXI to finance its solar photovoltaic and battery gigafactory projects. The transaction marked NEXI’s first untied corporate facility globally and carried what the company described as the longest average tenor for an export credit agency-backed financing.
The three transactions underscore Reliance’s growing ability to tap diversified global funding sources despite volatile market conditions driven by geopolitical tensions, tariff uncertainty, interest rate shifts and the rupee’s sharp depreciation against the dollar during FY2025-26.
Reliance said it raised multi-currency financing at competitive rates and long tenors even as the rupee weakened to near 95 per dollar and domestic interest rates eased.
The company’s leverage and coverage metrics improved during the year.
Interest coverage ratio rose to 8.83 in FY 2025-26 from 5.59 a year earlier, while debt service coverage ratio more than doubled to 4.03 from 2.06.
Return on capital employed increased to 20.7 per cent from 14.6 per cent.
As of March 31, 2026, Reliance reported gross debt of Rs 3.74 lakh crore and net debt of Rs 1.25 lakh crore, while maintaining a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41:1.
The company said its liquidity strategy remains focused on maintaining strong cash reserves, diversified financing sources and undrawn credit lines to support long-term capital expenditure and working capital needs. (PTI)
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