New Delhi: India's markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India, on Monday proposed incentives for certain categories of retail investors to encourage them to invest in public issues of debt
securities. The consultation paper proposed to permit issuers to offer incentives in the form of a higher coupon rate or a discount to the issue price to allottees such as senior citizens, women, armed forces personnel, and retail subscribers.
The SEBI highlighted the need for promoting the development of the bond market, saying that the data on public issuance of NCDs showed that the amount of public debt issues has reduced from Rs 19,168 crore in FY24 to Rs 8,149 crore in FY25.
The regulator has sought public comments on the proposal by November 17. In the case of an Offer for Sale (OFS) of shares by promoters through the stock exchange mechanism, the SEBI has permitted the seller to offer a discount to retail investors.
The details of the discount and percentage of reservation for retail investors are required to be disclosed upfront in the notice of OFS to the exchange. The market regulator noted that similar precedents exist in the securities market or the banking sector, or the non-financial sector. The said offering may be at the sole discretion of the issuer and shall be disclosed upfront in the offer document.
Further, the said differential offering shall be limited to the original allottee of the public issue, the release noted. Earlier this month, a CRISIL report said that benchmark 10‑year government bond yields are expected to edge lower in the coming months, driven by benign inflation, falling oil prices, and possible monetary easing by the Reserve Bank of India.
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