By Saikat Das, ET Bureau | 27 Oct, 2015
MUMBAI: India's largest insurer and national transporter are set to kick
off their funding journey with a bilateral bond deal.
*LIC would subscribe about Rs 2,000 crore of corporate bonds from the
Indian Railways this week in what's the beginning of a Rs 1.5 lakh crore
investment deal over the next five years. These 30-year maturity bonds are
likely to yield 30 basis points more than the government benchmark bond,*
said three people familiar with the matter.
"While the insurer would benefit in terms of credit quality, the funding
will help the railways carry out long-term projects," one of the executives
cited above told ET, adding that the deal would be announced in a day or
two.
*Going by the average benchmark in the past few weeks, such bonds may yield
anything between 8.75 and 8.85%.* The bond deal is seen more of a loan, but
at a concessional rate, the permission for which has been taken from the
Reserve Bank of India.
*IRFC is likely to offer about Rs 17,200 crore worth of such bonds to LIC
this financial year.* Funds would be channelised by the railways for
capacity expansion and long-term projects.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had mentioned about 77 projects involving
doubling, new lines and gauge conversion to be undertaken in 24 over
saturated corridors in the Rail Budget 2015-16. The ministry also intends
to fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 km of double/third/fourth lines and
commission 1,200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs 8,686 crore.
*Long term funds are essential to revamp the ailing network as banks alone
cannot meet such huge requirements.* Other pledges that need to be met
include bullet trains and air-conditioned local trains for Mumbai.
IRFC, a government-owned triple-A rated entity, is also likely to float
tax-free bonds for a few thousand rupees even as the institution is
discussing with investment bankers ways to sell rupee-denominated offshore
bonds.
"Ensuring a pipeline of investments is the only way the railways can create
new capacities and bring in the necessary upgradation," Deepak Parekh,
chairman of HDFC, had written.
- Prakash Gupta
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