Bank of India raises Rs 2,690 crore via infra bonds at 7.5% interest rate

Bank of India (BoI) on Saturday said that it has successfully raised Rs 2,690 crore through 10-year infrastructure bonds at an interest rate of 7.50 per cent.

The funds were raised via the NSE Electronic Bidding Platform -- the bank's third infrastructure bond issuance in the current financial year.

The public sector lender had initially set a base issue size of Rs 1,500 crore, with an option to raise up to Rs 3,500 crore.

However, the offering received an overwhelming response, attracting a total of 94 bids worth Rs 8,845 crore, which was nearly six times the base issue size.

After reviewing the bids, the bank accepted 26 bids, finalising the issuance at Rs 2,690 crore.

According to the bank, the funds raised from these long-term bonds will be utilised for financing infrastructure projects and affordable housing, in line with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) guidelines.

The money will not be allocated to any specific project but will contribute to the overall funding of key sectors, it added.

Over the past nine months, the bank has raised Rs 12,500 crore through multiple bond offerings.

This includes Rs 2,500 crore in Basel III Tier-II bonds issued in September at an interest rate of 7.49 per cent, as well as infrastructure bonds worth Rs 5,000 crore each in July and November, issued at 7.54 per cent and 7.41 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the apex bank last month announced that it would inject another Rs 110,000 crore liquidity into the banking system through open market purchase auctions of Government securities and carrying out a variable rate repo auction.

The RBI said that the steps were being taken after a review of the current liquidity and financial conditions.