State-run Rural Electricity Corporation (REC) plans to issue up to Rs 3,000 crore worth of infrastructure bonds in October as part of its fund-raising efforts, a senior official of the company said.
“We have got in-principle approval (to issue the infrastructure bonds) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the first tranche, it’ll be nearly Rs 2,000-3,000 crore. Once we get NBFC-IFC status, we’ll again approach RBI for final approval," REC Finance Director H D Khunteta said.
REC is expecting to get NBFC-IFC (Non-Banking Finance Company-Infrastructure Finance Company) status by August 14, which would make the company eligible for issuing such bonds.
After Power Finance Corporation, REC will be the second company in the power sector to get this status.
The company may also issue a second tranche of infrastructure bonds in February, 2011, Khunteta added.