Bond sales gain traction, jump 30% to USD 14.9 bn in Jan-Mar

India Inc continued to lap up debt in the January-March quarter, with proceeds touching USD 14.9 billion, a 29.9 per cent jump from a year ago.
This is the highest bond sale in the quarter under review since 2013 when companies had scooped up a whopping USD 21.4 billion in debt.
Of the total pie, offshore US dollar-denominated bond market reached the USD 3.1 billion mark during the reporting period, a 52.6 per cent increase from a year earlier. In terms of number of issuance, the same doubled, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Reliance Industries led the pack with a 10-year US dollar bond, raising USD 990 million at 4.125 per cent rate in January. A few weeks later, RIL raised USD 741.5 million more from a 30-year US-dollar bond sale.

At USD 10.8 billion, the financial sector accounted for 72 per cent market share during the quarter in question, a 34.5 per cent jump in proceeds as against the first quarter of 2014.