SBI raises Rs 5,000 crore via Basel III bonds

State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 5,000 crore through the issuance of its first Basel III-compliant Additional Tier 1 bonds for the current financial year.

The bonds carry a coupon rate of 7.98 per cent, SBI said in a statement.

The tenor of these bonds is perpetual with call option after 10 years and each anniversary date thereafter, it said.

The issue attracted an overwhelming response from investors with bids in excess of 3.5 times against the base issue size of Rs 2,000 crore, it said.

The total number of bids received was 108 indicating participation from a diverse set of qualified institutional bidders.

The participants were across provident funds, pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, NBFCs, banks etc.

SBI Chairman C S Setty said that wider participation and heterogeneity of bids demonstrated the trust investors place in the country's largest bank.

Based on the response, it said, the bank has decided to accept Rs 5,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.98 per cent payable annually.

The issuance is also significant as the bank has been able to diversify and raise long-term non-equity regulatory capital, it said.

Basel III is an internationally agreed set of measures that aim to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of banks.