Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd plans to launch an infrastructure debt fund through the mutual fund route.

The debt fund is likely to be launched in the next fiscal, said Mr Saud Siddique, Joint Managing Director, Srei.

An infrastructure debt fund (IDF) can be set up as a trust or as a company. A trust-based IDF is a mutual fund that issues units, while a company-based fund is in the form of a non-banking finance company (NBFC) issuing bonds. While mutual funds are regulated by SEBI, NBFCs are regulated by the RBI.

These IDFs are expected to address the long-term financing needs of infrastructure projects, Mr Siddique said at a press meet to announce Srei's tax-saving long term infrastructure bonds here on Saturday.

Srei plans to issue infrastructure bonds with a face value of Rs 1,000 each in the form of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures, to be issued in one or more tranches not exceeding Rs 500 crore in the financial year 2011-12.

These bonds will be issued in four series with an annual interest rate of 8.90 per cent for series one and two with 10-year maturity and 9.15 per cent for the rest with 15-year maturity, said Mr Sanjeev Sancheti, Chief Financial Officer, Srei.

Meanwhile, Srei also plans to raise about $ 15 million (approximately Rs 79 crore at the current exchange rate) through the External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) route from Austrian Development Bank. Srei has almost exhausted its ECB raising window through the automatic route.

>shobha@thehindu.co.in

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