By IANS,
New Delhi : Road Transport and Highways Minister C.P. Joshi Friday said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will raise up to Rs.10,000 crore by issuing tax-free bonds to finance its various projects.
The new bonds will be issued in two series of tranche-1 series-1 and tranche-1 series-2 that have a tenure of 10 years and 15 years, respectively.
The interest per annum on the bonds would be accumulated on every Oct 1. The rates for the series 1 and 2 are 8.2 and 8.3 percent per annum, respectively.
The issue will open Dec 28 to Jan 11, 2012 with an option to close earlier or extend up to a maximum period of 30 days.
“The proposed tax free (secured redeemable non-convertible) bonds of Rs. 10,000 crore will be one part of the market borrowings,” Joshi said in a statement.
NHAI has to award 21,000 km of road in the next three financial years.
“Only 4,200 km length of roads have been given by NHAI so far (November 2011), as opposed to the financial year 2012 target of 7,300 km,” the minister said.