Cos raise Rs 1.75 lakh cr via bonds on BSE e-book platform

NEW DELHI: Indian companies have raised about Rs 1.75 lakh crore by issuing bonds through private placement on BSE's electronic book mechanism since its launch last July, Asia's oldest bourse chief Ashishkumar Chauhan said today.

In comparison, companies raised around Rs 10,000 crore from rupee-denominated bonds, also called masala bonds, in the last 1-2 years, he added.

"Investors have evolved to a great extent and are now more receptive and open to diversification into new assets class," Chauhan said at a conference on bond market organised by industry body Assocham here.

"Transparency and new bankruptcy code will further help in development of the bond market," he added.

Masala bonds are instruments through which Indian entities can raise funds by accessing overseas capital markets.

The BSE-BOND was launched on July 1 to facilitate online bidding for private placement of debt securities. Since then, companies have raised Rs 1.75 lakh crore through it.

Some of the firms that raised funds through the platform include NTPC, Axis Bank, HDFC, Power Finance Corporation, REC, Yes Bank, NHAI, IRFC, HUDCO and NABARD.

The funds have been mobilised from various sources, including banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, foreign portfolio investors and corporates.

The platform, which allows all categories of investors to place bids, helps bring in transparency and efficiency in price discovery for private placement of debt securities.

The electronic book mechanism is mandatory for all private placement issues on debt basis for more than Rs 500 crore.

It is optional for issues below Rs 500 crore, but the issuers will have to disclose coupon, yield, amount raised, number and category of investors to the electronic book provider or the information repository for corporate debt market in the format as specified by regulator Sebi.