British Columbia may become the first foreign government to invest onshore in India as it plans to tap the ‘masala bond’ route for this purpose, its visiting Finance Minister, Michael de Jong, has said.
Located in Western Canada, British Columbia, a pioneer in offshore investing, is now looking to raise at least ₹500 crore via ‘masala bonds’ in January-March next year.
‘Masala bonds’ are basically rupee-denominated bonds issued in offshore capital markets. These bonds are offered and settled in US dollars to raise rupees from international investors for infrastructure development in India.
“No government has issued bonds in the offshore INR masala bond market. We would like to be the first government to issue in the masala bond market,” Jong said.
At a benchmark level, British Columbia is looking to raise at least 150 million Canadian dollars, he said, when asked to indicate the quantum of funds to be mobilised via the ‘masala bond’ offering.
On Wednesday, Jong along with senior Finance Ministry officials of British Columbia met the top brass of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), which is a designated agency for infrastructure development within India.
Jong said that the impetus to look at issuing ‘masala bonds’ came from a meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Columbia Premier Christy Clark had at Vancouver earlier this year.
British Columbia, an AAA jurisdiction, was the first government to issue Dim Sum bonds, which are denominated in Chinese renminbi and named after a popular dish.