As many as five companies have raised Rs 882 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in the first four months of this fiscal, with an aim to strengthen their balance sheets.
In comparison, companies had collected Rs 4,177 crore through this route in the April-July period 2019-20, according to latest data with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
The funds have been mopped up to strengthen balance sheets, which might have been impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic, retire existing debt and to support working capital requirements, market experts believe.
These five firms include Muthoottu Mini Financiers (Rs 198 crore) and Muthoot Fincorp (Rs 160 crore), Kosamattam Finance (Rs 297 crore), KLM Axiva Finvest (Rs 124 crore) and Sakthi Finance (Rs 102 crore).
All five have firms have mopped-up funds totalling Rs 882 crore through retail issuance of NCDs in the current fiscal till July 13.
In the entire fiscal 2019-20, companies had raised Rs 14,984 crore.
NCDs are loan-linked bonds that cannot be converted into stocks and usually offer higher interest rates than convertible debentures.