The International Finance Corporation will provide a $50 million loan to the leading automaker Tata Engineering to support its ongoing investment programme and new product development initiatives.

The private sector arm of the World Bank Group has also signed an agreement to provide a loan of about $13 million to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd, an IFC release said in New Delhi.

Tata Engineering's executive director Praveen Kadle said, "This investment is an endorsement of Telco's plans and objectives and we look forward to a long-term partnership with the IFC".

Telco, the flagship company of the Tata Group, is among the world's top ten commercial vehicle makers and the domestic market leader for over 50 years.

The company also entered the passenger car business in 1997 and its highest selling car Indica now commands a 15 per cent market share in the domestic market.

IFC director for South Asia Dimitris Tsitsiragos said, "Telco has had a remarkable turnaround and has demonstrated its engineering expertise by successfully developing and marketing world class passenger vehicles".

The $200 million Dewan Housing was formed in 1984 and is currently the fourth largest housing finance company in the country.

Dewan Housing chairman Rakesh Kumar said, "IFC's loan marks the first time the company has worked with a foreign lender or multilateral agency. The funds raised through IFC's loan will be used for on-lending to clients who need housing finance".