Reliance Industries to tap local bond market after 3 years, lines up Rs 12,500 crore issue

Mumbai: Reliance Industries (RIL), India's biggest company by market value, is leading the cohort of local corporate giants to tap the domestic bond market amid a liquidity glut, as banks look to deploy funds running into record surpluses and borrowers rush to raise money ahead of an expected increase in interest rates.

RIL, which is returning to the local bond market after three years, plans to raise ₹12,500 crore through five-year rupee bonds carrying an annual coupon of 7.47%. The company is expected to invite bids from investors in the week ending September 18, bond market sources aware of the plans told ET.

The RIL offer would be the largest, single-tranche bond issue by a rated company since November 2023.


Adani Airport Holdings is also looking to raise funds through bonds next week, while Larsen & Toubro is considering a ₹500-crore issue.

"The timing is attractive for large borrowers because the market is increasingly pricing in a possibility of monetary tightening," said Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, managing partner, Rockfort Fincap LLP. "Corporates are looking to lock in medium-term funding costs before any increase in benchmark rates feeds through to bank lending rates and bond yields."

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The impact of forex-inflow programs is visible in corporate bond pricing. Five-year AAA PSU corporate bond yields were at 7.85% on June 3 and stood at 7.68% on September 7, a decline of 17 basis points. Five-year AAA non-PSU corporate bonds quoted at around 8.07% on September 7.

One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.

The rush comes after banks mobilised a record $127.2 billion through FCNR(B) deposits under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) special swap facility. Total foreign-currency inflows through the facility, including FCNR(B), overseas foreign-currency borrowings and external commercial borrowings, reached $136.4 billion by August 31.

The influx has created a substantial liquidity surplus in the banking system. Liquidity surplus in the banking system remains in the vicinity of around ₹10 lakh crore, with the weighted average call rate trending below the policy repo rate.

Banks are now looking to deploy a part of these funds in high-quality corporate credit. FCNR(B) deposits have been mobilised at around 6-6.25%, giving banks a pool of relatively low-cost funds they can deploy while earning a spread.

"Banks have to deploy the liquidity, and corporate bonds provide an avenue to put money to work in high-quality credit. At the same time, lenders have to protect their margins because there is uncertainty around the interest-rate cycle," said a person familiar with the market.