Buoyant about the infrastructure sector, Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (Srei) is evaluating to tap the retail market with taxable infrastructure bonds next year.

“We are planning to broad-base our resource mobilising options. We will definitely evaluate to tap the retail market with taxable infrastructure bonds in the next financial year,” the company CFO, Mr Sanjeev K. Sancheti, told PTI.

The company is also planning to foray into mutual fund through its first infrastructure debt fund and is likely to enter the same in 2012-13, Srei Infra Joint Managing Director, Mr S.I. Siddique, said.

The company had hit the retail bond market with its Rs 300-crore tax-free infrastructure bonds that will remain open till January 31, 2012.

Mr Siddique said despite there has been some slowdown in the infrastructure sector, the company is optimistic in its long-term prospects and thus it would continue to raise resources.

Srei Infra has a total market borrowing of Rs 13,000 crore as of September 2011. Around $100 million is in foreign currency, of which one-fourth amount which will face maturity, has not been hedged. However, Mr Siddique said that this is not going to impact the company much.

About overseas fund raising, Mr Sancheti said the company will soon raise around $15 million (around Rs 75 crore) through the ECB route from Austrian Development Bank.

The company is expecting 25-30 per cent growth in disbursement in the current fiscal against Rs 14,400 crore last fiscal.

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