By P.R. Venkat

Axis Bank Ltd. has raised 100 billion rupees ($1.34 billion) through the placement of shares to qualified institutions.

Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, the share placement experienced strong demand from the global and domestic investor community, including large foreign portfolio investors, domestic mutual funds and insurance companies, the lender said late Monday.

Each share was issued at INR420.10, a 5% discount to the floor price of INR442.19 apiece, Axis Bank said.

"We believe that the Bank is well placed to leverage all the possible growth opportunities that will come in as the economy opens up and is in a strong position to combat the challenges that emanate from the Covid-19 pandemic crisis," Chief Executive Amitabh Chaudhry said.

The share placement is part of the lender's plan to mobilize as much as $2 billion in funds to shore up its capital.

Axis Bank is India's third-largest private-sector bank by total assets, with 4,528 domestic branches and 11,971 ATMs. 



  Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com