Fund-raising with retail NCDs dips 85% in April-July

<g data-gr-id="20">Fund raising</g> by Indian companies through retail issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) plunged by 85 per cent to around Rs 600 crore in the first four months of the current fiscal, from the year-ago level.

Two companies - SREI Equipment Finance and SREI Infrastructure Finance - have raised Rs 577 crore through NCDs during the April-July period of 2015-16, to support working capital requirements and general corporate purposes. In comparison, Rs 3,760 was garnered via nine such issuances in the year-ago period, as per the latest data with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

In the entire last fiscal (2014-15), Rs 9,713 crore had been garnered through 25 issues of NCDs. 

SREI Equipment Finance raked in Rs 410 crore against a target of Rs 250 crore, SREI Infrastructure Finance <g data-gr-id="21">mopped-up</g> Rs 167 crore against the base size of Rs 100 crore. NCDs are loan-linked bonds that can not be converted into stock and usually offer higher interest rates than convertible debentures. Companies including Jet Airways and DLF have lined-up plans to raise about Rs 20,000 crore through this route.

However, most of these funds would be garnered via private placement basis rather than retail issuance.