Companies raise Rs 69 bn on BSE Bond platform under Sebi's new norm

Indian companies have raised Rs 69 billion by issuing bonds through private placement on BSE's electronic book mechanism since Sebi's new guidelines came into effect from April 1.

Under the new norms, Sebi has made electronic platform mandatory for all private placement issues on debt basis that have a threshold of Rs 2 billion, a move aimed at achieving better and transparent price discovery through the bidding process.

Prior to that, the mechanism was mandatory for all private placements of debt securities with an issue size of Rs 5 billion or more.

Till date, five issuers have come up with seven issues of bonds and successfully raised Rs 69 billion on BSE Bond platform after the rollout of new norms, the exchange said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Among the issuers were, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation that have opted for the route to garner funds.

In 2017-18, 84 issuers raised Rs 2089.06 billion through 532 issues of bonds using the platform.