NTPC bond issue oversubscribed 2.8 times within just 10 minutes

State-run NTPC Ltd's bond issue was oversubscribed 2.8 times in just 10 minutes on Monday after hitting the market, raising a total of Rs 1,000 crore, which would be used for capital expenditure.

"NTPC's bond issue oversubscribed by 2.8 times in 10 minutes today," the company said in a statement.

The company had called for offers to subscribe to its 60th series of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) for an amount of Rs 500 crore with a greenshoe option of another Rs 500 crore on a private placement basis. According to the statement, bids amounting to Rs 1,400 crore were received from 17 applicants. 

Finally, nine arrangers were allocated Rs 1,000 crore based on their offers, the company added.

Under a greenshoe option, a company can sell more shares or bonds than originally planned by the issuer. This is done if the demand for an issue proves to be higher than expected. The company said considering that the issue has a tenor of 10 years, the pricing was very competitive at s8.05 per cent per annum translating to about 7.89 per cent semi-annual.

The proceeds of the issue will be utilised for capital expenditure, it added. NTPC is the largest power utility in the country with an installed capacity of 46,653 mw.