BARD announces Public Issue of Tax-Free Bonds

Mumbai, March 8: tiol Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (BARD)  announced the public issue of tax-free, secured, redeemable, non-convertible bonds of face value of Rs 1,000 each in the ture of debentures, having benefits under Section 10 (15) (iv) (h) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for an aggregate amount of Rs 3,500 crores.

The Issue will open on March 9 and close on March 14 with an option for early closure or extension. The Bonds will be listed on BSE.

60% of the Issue Size shall be reserved for Category IV investors, i.e., Resident Indian Individuals and HUFs through the Karta applying for an amount aggregating up to and including Rs 10 Lakh across all series of Bonds in the Issue. 15% of the Issue Size shall be reserved for each of Category I investors (Qualified Institutiol Buyers) and Category II investors (Corporates) and 10% of the Issue size shall be reserved for Category III investors (High Net worth Individuals). Interest on Bonds will be exempt from levy of income tax, in the hands of the bondholders. Allotment would be done on first-cum-first served basis.

BARD is offering Bonds with 10 and 15 years option. The coupon rates for Category IV would be 7.29% and 7.64% for 10 years and 15 years respectively. For investors in Category I, II and III, it would be 7.04% and 7.35% for 10 years and 15 years respectively.  The interest on Bonds shall be paid annually.

The Bonds proposed to be issued have been assigned a rating of ‘CRISIL AAA / Stable’ by CRISIL and “IND ‘AAA’ / Stable” India Ratings. The instruments with these ratings are considered to have the highest degree of safety regarding timely servicing of fincial obligations. Such instruments carry low credit risk.

The proceeds of the Issue shall be mainly utilised for direct lending to certain irrigation projects in India and refincing irrigation projects.

For the aforesaid Issue, Axis Trustee Services Limited is the Bond Trustee. A K Capital Services Limited, Edelweiss Fincial Services Limited, ICICI Securities Limited, RR Investors Capital Services Private Limited and SBI Capital Markets Limited are the lead magers to the Issue. This was stated in a press release.