Indian companies have raised over Rs 800 crore through retail issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) so far in the current fiscal, down 80 per cent from a year ago.

Three firms — SREI Equipment Finance, Muthoottu Mini Financiers and SREI Infrastructure Finance — have mobilised Rs 808 crore through NCDs during April-August 2015-16 to support working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.

In comparison, Rs 4,020 crore was mobilised through 11 such issuances in the year-ago period, latest data from SEBI showed.

In the entire last fiscal (2014-15), Rs 9,713 crore came through 25 issues of NCDs.

Individually, SREI Equipment Finance raked in Rs 410 crore against a target of Rs 250 crore, Muthoottu Mini Financiers garnered Rs 235 crore against a base size of Rs 125 crore and SREI Infrastructure Finance mopped up Rs 167 crore against the target size of Rs 200 crore.

NCDs are loan-linked bonds that cannot be converted into stocks and usually offer higher interest rates than convertible debentures.

Companies including Jet Airways and DLF have lined up plans to raise about Rs 20,000 crore through this route. However, most of these funds would be raised on a private placement basis rather than retail issuance.

Experts said mobilising money through private placement is being viewed as a safer bet instead of opting for retail issuance.

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