Reliance Commercial Finance raises Rs 500 cr on new BSE Bond platform

Stock exchange major BSE on Thursday said Reliance Commercial Finance (RCFl) has raised Rs 500 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis using its Bond platform.

According to the BSE, this is the maiden issue on its Bond platform after the roll-out of the new Circular issued by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on January 5, 2018, effective from April 1, 2018.

"On April 4, 2018, Reliance Commercial Finance ltd successfully raised Rs 500 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis using the new BSE Bond platform," the BSE said in a statement.

Devang Modi, Executive Director and CEO, RCFl, said: "We are delighted that in keeping with the Reliance Group's tradition of being involved with many firsts in India's capital markets, Reliance Commercial Finance has become the first company today to issue bonds on the BSE Bond." 

"We are seeing a steady growth in our SME (small and medium enterprises) and retail financing business, and the proceeds from this private placement will help fund future growth," he said.

The BSE had on July 1, 2016, launched the platform for Electronic Book Mechanism "BSE Bond" for issuance of debt securities on private placement basis and an amount of Rs 424,083 crore has been raised on the platform since inception.

"BSE firmly believes that Indian primary bond market is poised for substantial growth; India can use its domestic savings to fund its finance needs in a substantive manner," said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO, BSE.