BSNL raises Rs 8,500 crore via local bonds

State-run BSNL has raised Rs 8,500 crore through issuance of sovereign guarantee bonds, with a maturity of 10 years. The funds raised will be utilized for debt refinancing and meeting the capex requirements. As per BSNL CMD PK Purwar, the issue saw participations of National Pension Scheme, Rural Postal Life Insurance, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank among others.

BSNL has a debt of around Rs 20,000 crore. The bond issue was subscribed over two times and the company received bids worth Rs 17,183 crore from 229 investors. The company has offered government-guaranteed unsecured, redeemable, listed, taxable, non-convertible debentures (NCD) of the face value of Rs 10 lakh each at par, with a base issue size of Rs 1,000 crore with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 7,500 crore, aggregating to total issue size of Rs 8,500 crore.

Purwar said the BSNL management has decided to retain the full subscription of Rs 8,500 crore at a coupon rate of 6.79%. These bonds are planned to be listed on BSE soon and the proceeds will be used for debt refinancing and meeting the capex requirements of BSNL. Purwar added this is the largest government-guaranteed bonds issue in recent times, which received such an overwhelming response. The coupon rate, too, is best in comparison to other similar offerings in recent times.