India Inc invested $2.7 bn overseas in Mar

Overseas investments by Indian companies stood at $2.77 billion in March, up 37.6 per cent over the previous month, with Binani Industries, Mercator Lines, HCL Technologies, Varun Shipping, Hexaware Technologies, Tata Steel emerging as major investors.

As many as 489 overseas investment transactions were carried out by various companies in March, as per the Reserve Bank data released on Wednesday.

Binani Industries invested a total of $323.34 million in its two wholly-owned subsidiaries based in Luxembourg and the US that are involved in financial, real estate and manufacturing services.

Mercator Lines, which is into agriculture and mining, through its joint venture-Mercator Offshore PTE- invested $150.15

million in Singapore during the month, it said.

ABG Shipyard, through its wholly-owned subsidiary invested $80 million in Singapore.

HCL Technologies, India's fourth largest software exporter, invested $60 million in Bermuda through its wholly owned subsidiary for providing financial, insurance and real estate solutions.

Likewise, Varun Shipping which is into transport, storage and communication business invested $60 million via its JV in Cyprus.

Hexaware Technologies invested $38.7 million through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Germany to provide financial, insurance, real estate solutions, it said.

Tata Steel invested $35.5 million in Singapore through its wholly-owned unit, it said.