NHAI plans to raise funds through public issue of tax free, secured, redeemable non-convertible bonds with Face Value of Rs 1,000 each for an amount of Rs 1,000 crore with an option to retain over subscription of upto additional Rs 9,000 crore, aggregating upto a total of Rs 10,000 crore. 

The interest income on bonds is exempted from levy of Income Tax in the hands of the investors as per the notification no. 59/2015 F. No. 178/27/2015-ITA-I dated July 6, 2015 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 

The coupon rate for Category I, Category II and Category III investors i.e. Qualified Institutional Buyers, Corporates and High Net Worth Individuals will be 7.14% and 7.35% for tenures of 10 years and 15 years respectively in Series IA and series IIA. The coupon rate for Category IV investors i.e. Retail Individual Investors will be 7.39% in Series IB and 7.60% in Series IIB for tenures of 10 years and 15 years respectively (i.e. Retail Individual Investors are being offered 0.25% more than other category of investors for bonds of corresponding tenure). 

The Issue opens on December 17, 2015 and is scheduled to close on December 31, 2015 with an option for early closure or extension as may be decided by the Board of Members or the Bond Committee. 

The bonds are proposed to be listed on the BSE Limited and NSE and have been rated ‘IND AAA’ by IRRPL, ‘ CARE AAA’ by CARE, “[ICRA] AAA” by ICRA and ‘CRISIL AAA/Stable’ by CRISIL. 

SBI Capital Markets Ltd, A.K. Capital Services Ltd, Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd and Axis Capital Ltd are the Lead Managers to the issue. Karvy Computer Share Private Limited is the Registrar to the Issue while SBICAP Trustee Company Limited is the Bond Trustee to the Issue. 

The funds raised through this issue will be utilized for the part financing of various on-going projects under the NHDP and also various special projects and future projects to be awarded under different modes.