The corporation plans to approach Standard and Poor's (S&P) soon for an international rating so that it can access the overseas market to meet its borrowing requirement.
NMC will also seek a Credit Rating Information Services (Crisil) rating for its Rs 400-crore debt issue.
Officials in the corporation disclosed that the offering was being considered for this financial year.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) was the first to get itself rated for a Rs 100-crore issue but it is yet to come out with its bonds.
Earlier in the year, it was assigned A+ by Crisil.
The NMC is the second to contemplate a debt offering. According to merchant banking sources, the bond is yet to be structured.
Sources in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation said the corporation is likely to get a better rating than the AMC as it has continuously been posting a surplus for the past five years. "Contrasted to this, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has been posting a deficit for the past two years," sources said.
The Rajkot and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are also planning bond issues, sources said.
"However, these corporations have not begun formal talks about their issues," a merchant banking source said.
In another development, Sicom, a company in which the Maharashtra state government has a majority stakeholding also intends to hit the debt market with a Rs 100-crore issue.
Company sources said the issue was in the conceptual stage and merchant bankers are being called to make their presentations.
Sicom had earlier applied for a Developement Financial Institution (DFI) status to the finance ministry on the ground that its activities such as project and development lending compare with that of the all- India financial institutions like Industrial Development Bank of India and Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI).
If the approval comes through, then Sicom will have a greenshoe option of Rs 100 crore.
The Maharashtra Krishna ValleyDevelopment Corporation, which was in the private placement market with a Rs 150-crore issue, has successfully raised Rs 421 crore.
This was disclosed by the state chief minister Manohar Joshi. DSP Financial lead-managed the issue.
