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FCNR(B) haul tops $35 billion: Kotak, IndusInd, IDFC First join HDFC Bank and Axis

Three more lenders disclosed foreign-currency FCNR(B) deposits raised under the Reserve Bank of India’s swap facility in their September-quarter updates: Kotak Mahindra Bank $5.78 billion, IndusInd Bank $3.51 billion and IDFC First Bank about $3.6 billion. With HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, five banks account for about $35 billion. The inflow shows up in headline deposit growth — and in the banking system’s cash surplus that RBI is now draining.

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New filings (5 Oct 2026, provisional): Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and IDFC First Bank each disclosed FCNR(B) deposits — foreign-currency deposits from non-resident Indians — raised under RBI’s swap window, which ran for deposits mobilised 8 June–31 August 2026.

The five-bank tally so far:

BankFCNR(B) raised under swapLoans extended against those deposits
HDFC Bank$11.5 billion$5.7 billion
Axis Bank$10.62 billion$4.57 billion
Kotak Mahindra Bank$5.78 billion (~₹55,344 crore)$1.68 billion (~₹16,110 crore)
IndusInd Bank$3.51 billion (~₹33,627 crore)$1.73 billion (~₹16,564 crore)
IDFC First Bank~$3.6 billion (₹34,390 crore)~$2.6 billion (₹24,885 crore)
Total (Capital Chronicle arithmetic)~$35.0 billion~$16.3 billion

HDFC Bank and Axis Bank figures are from their filings covered in this morning’s story.

Takeaway: Close to half of the dollars came with loans from the same banks’ overseas or GIFT City branches. The rupee side of the swap is part of why the banking system is flush with cash — RBI absorbed ₹2.10 lakh crore on Monday and is trying for ₹2.5 lakh crore today. Not investment advice.

Analysis

Kotak Mahindra Bank — the biggest jump

  • Net advances (end of period) ₹5,77,094 crore, +24.7% YoY and +12.7% in one quarter.
  • Total deposits ₹6,51,491 crore, +23.2% YoY, +13.7% QoQ; CASA ₹2,49,105 crore, +11.3%.
  • FCNR(B) under the swap is about 8.5% of period-end deposits. Without it, deposits would be up about 12.7% YoY and advances (minus the $1.68 billion of linked loans) about 21.2% (Capital Chronicle arithmetic).
  • CASA share fell to about 38.2% from about 42.3% a year earlier (Capital Chronicle arithmetic).

IndusInd Bank — loans jump, CASA slides

  • Net advances ₹3,62,393 crore, +11.2% YoY and +11.1% QoQ — almost all of the year’s growth came in this one quarter.
  • Deposits ₹4,29,038 crore, +10.1% YoY, +3.4% QoQ. CASA ratio 28.0%, down from 29.4% in June and 30.7% a year earlier.
  • Retail and small-business deposits: ₹2,14,504 crore (June: ₹1,93,591 crore).
  • Loans from its GIFT City branch against the FCNR(B) deposits, $1.73 billion, are about 4.6% of net advances (Capital Chronicle arithmetic). It also had $0.50 billion of standby letters of credit outstanding.

IDFC First Bank — reports both ways

IDFC First strips the leveraged FCNR(B) out of its headline table: loans ₹3,13,864 crore (+20.4%), deposits ₹3,23,697 crore (+17.0%), CASA ratio 51.3%. Including the FCNR(B) money, gross advances were ₹3,38,749 crore (+29.9%), deposits ₹3,48,582 crore (+25.9%) and CASA ratio 47.6%. The bank says it cut certificates of deposit to manage the surplus liquidity, and bulk term deposits fell to 13.9% of total deposits from 17.1% in June.

The liquidity link

In a swap of this kind, banks sell the dollars to RBI now (and buy them back later) and receive rupees — so the money lands in the system as rupee cash (our read of the mechanism). RBI’s money-market statement for 3 Oct showed a net surplus of about ₹5.17 lakh crore. On Monday RBI drained ₹2,10,192 crore through two overnight VRRR auctions at 5.24%, and it has notified ₹2,50,000 crore for today (markets story).

For savers and borrowers: the inflows let banks lend more without chasing rupee deposits — IDFC First says it slowed deposit growth for that reason. Falling CASA shares at Kotak and IndusInd mean costlier funding mix, so watch margins in full results.

What to watch

  1. RBI MPC decision and any liquidity steps — Wed 7 Oct
  2. More lenders’ quarterly updates and whether they report FCNR(B) inflows
  3. Full Q2 FY27 results, net interest margins and CASA trends

Sources

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Not personalized financial advice. Corrections: corrections@capitalchronicle.news