LIC buys first issuance of longest maturity bonds

Life Insurance Corporation has bought the first issuance of the longest maturity 30-year bonds this financial year, sold by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). India’s biggest domestic institutional investor bought Rs 2,000-crore worth of the bonds in an online primary transaction. NHAI offered 8.55% coupon on the bonds for the first 10 years while the rate would be reset after every decade based on existing benchmark yields then, dealers said. NHAI, which has been working actively on new road building, needs long-term money to meet its targets. NHAI will need to raise about Rs 1.3 lakh crore by 2020 on the back of increasing cost of land acquisition due to faster construction, according to a report by Kotak Institutional Securities