Infra corporate debt: Minimum bid for FIIs cut to Rs 1 cr

To encourage greater participation of FIIs in the infrastructure sector, markets regulator Sebi has reduced the minimum bid amount for allocation of investments in long-term infrastructure corporate debt for such investors to Rs 1 crore from Rs 250 crore.

The regulator will hold a bidding on February 29 for allocation of unutilised limit and has amended the rules by reducing the minimum bid amount to Rs one crore from Rs 250 crore and the maximum to Rs 1,000 crore from the earlier existing Rs 10,000 crore.

"Based on the assessment of the utilisation of the limits to FIIs for investments in corporate debt long term infra category (with one year lock in and one year residual maturity clause), it has been decided to allocate the unutilised limits. The bidding of this limit shall be done on the NSE from 15:30 hrs to 17:30 hrs, on February 29, 2012," the Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a circular.

It further said that in partial amendment to its guidelines of 2009, "the minimum amount which can be bid for shall be Rs one crore."

As per the 2009 guidelines, the minimum amount which can be bid for was Rs 250 crore and the minimum tick size was fixed at Rs 100 crore.

Sebi also said that no single entity shall be allocated more than Rs 1,000 crore of the investment limit.

"Where a single entity bids on behalf of multiple entities... then such bid would be limited to Rs 1,000 crore for every such single entity," it said.