"Findings have revealed that there are some investors who may want to invest their money in a particular state. In this issue, ICICI is providing the investors an opportunity, by indicating their choice in the application form, to invest their savings in ICICI to finance units in the state of Andhra Pradesh. At the time of initial deployment of the resources so raised, preference would be given to the units located in the state of Andhra Pradesh," stated an ICICI press release.

The size of the current issue is Rs 400 crore, with a greenshoe option to retain oversubscription for a similar amount. The issue is structured along thelines of its previous bond offerings with four types of bonds with various maturity options on offer -- encash bond, tax-saving bond, money multiplier bond and regular income bond. Interest rate offered ranges from 14 per cent for a seven-year encash bond to 13 per cent for the five-year regular (monthly) income bond.

With this, the total amount garnered by ICICI under its umbrella prospectus route this year crosses the halfway mark. ICICI is permitted by the Securities & Exchange Board of India to raise Rs 3,000 crore in tranches over a one-year period under the umbrella prospectus.

ICICI has already raised Rs 1,343 crore in the first three tranches with large participation from the retail household segment. The present bond issue has been assigned triple-A rating by the three rating agencies -- Icra, Crisil and Care.