BackIWAI raises Rs660 crore through bonds
The Inland Waterways Authority of India has raised Rs660 crore through a bond sale to finance the development of national waterways
PremiumNew Delhi: The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has raised Rs660 crore through a bond sale to finance the development of national waterways.
The e-bidding for the bonds was held on Wednesday at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). IWAI offered Rs300 crore of bonds, with a so-called greenshoe option of raising Rs360 crore more.
The issue was oversubscribed and the full amount of Rs660 crore was raised in a single tranche at a coupon rate of 7.47%.
It is the second time that the authority has raised money through a bond sale. Last year, it was allowed to issue infrastructure bonds worth Rs1,000 crore but the authority raised only Rs340 crore.
IWAI, in a statement on Friday, said the bonds had been rated AAA: stable by credit assessors Crisil Ltd and Care Ltd. It added that principal and interest on the bonds will be paid by the centre by making a suitable budgetary allocation to the shipping ministry. The interest payment will be on a semi-annual basis and the principal on maturity.
The money raised from the bonds is intended to be used by IWAI for the development of national waterways. Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari plans to start operations at least on 10 of the 111 national waterways in the country by 2018.
The union cabinet in May approved an amendment to the Central Road Fund Act 2000 to allocate 2.5% of funds for the development and maintenance of national waterways; it amounts to around Rs2,000 crore.
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