``Other than top manufacturing companies, we tell our clients to invest in fixed deposits of HDFC Ltd and bonds of ICICI Ltd, IDBI Ltd and the highly liquid bonds of SBI,'' he said.

According to Dey, the gross post-tax return on liquid bonds is around 16 per cent compared with the 9 per cent offered by Reserve Bank of India relief bonds. People will shift their investments from RBI relief bonds to the tax-free UTI monthly income plan, which offers an assured return of 10.75 per cent per annum and an annual income/cumulative option at 11.30 per cent per annum for five years. Dey feels that the recent changes in RBI guidelines for non-banking finance companies is causing a lot of hardship to NBFCs. Moreover, withseveral NBFCs having defaulted in paying back investors' money, people are now extremely wary of investing in them.

Top manufacturing companies like ITC Ltd, Exide Industries, Berger Paints, EIH Ltd, Polar Industries, Philips Carbon Black Ltd, CESC Ltd, Duncan Industries and Williamson Magor Group are favoured, he said. ``We are mobilising around Rs 10-15 crore from the fixed deposits of manufacturing companies per month,'' Dey said.

Conservative investors generally prefer to invest in a company with a sound financial and servicing track record and enjoying a high level of confidence among the masses, he added.

Biman Chakroborty, the regional manager of Bajaj Capital Investment Centre (P) Ltd, said almost 90 per cent of the fixed deposit portfolio of NBFCs has shifted to top manufacturing companies, which are offering 11, 12 and 13 per cent interest on deposits of one, two and three years, respectively.

Although UTI's monthly income plan is totally tax-free, the reduction in the interest rate from12.5 to 10.75 per cent per annum will lead to a 30-40 per cent fall in the number of investors, Chakroborty said. Retired people with a limited income will shift their investments from UTI's MIP to post office and company fixed deposits, which offer higher rates of interest. The tax-free clause of the MIP is of no importance to them.

Bajaj advises his clients to invest in fixed deposits of HDFC and ILFS, which are the most secure investments in the country.

Somdatt Bosu, director of G M Bosu & Co, a prominent broking outfit in Calcutta, said that although manufacturing companies have taken away a lot of investment from the NBFCs, the top NBFCs are doing fairly well.

He said a dozen manufacturing companies are mopping up all the money available in the market. These companies close their fixed deposit schemes within a couple of days as they cannot collect more than 25 per cent of their paid-up share capital and free reserves as deposits from the public.