tate Bank of India, the country's largest lender, has raised an additional $1 billion from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to extend loans to help Covid-hit Japanese auto manufacturers in India.

With this SBI has taken its total loans raised from JBIC to $2 billion. In October 2020, SBI had inked a loan agreement for $1 billion.

The loan is in the form of refinance against the funding support provided to the manufacturers, suppliers and dealers of Japanese automobiles in India, whose business activities are recovering from reduced sales due to Covid-19, SBI said.

It is intended to promote smooth flow of funds for the whole range of business operations of Japanese automobile manufacturers in India, the statement said.

JBIC is a policy-based financial institution, wholly owned by the Japanese government, with the objective of contributing to the sound development of Japan, the international economy and society, it said.

“At a time when people are preferring personal mode of transport, this collaboration between SBI and JBIC will help the bank in extending loan facility to entire supply chain of Japanese automobile industry including suppliers, dealers and ultimately to the end users,” SBI chairman Dinesh Khara said.

India’s auto sector is dominated by a slew of Japanese companies, including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar and Honda.

The financing will assist in ''Make in India'' initiative as well, the statement said.