India Inc today pitched for a regulatory mechanism to facilitate development of bond and debt market and help the industry raise long-term funds for infrastructure sector.
?If the government takes earlier initiatives to allow development of these market with proper regulation, a large number of corporates can float corporate bonds and raise debts to participate in infrastructure funding,? Assocham said.
It said that the country would need close to 320-350 billion dollars in infrastructure investments by 2012, in which share of private investment could be within the range of 30 per cent.
The corporate bond and debt market needs to be developed to allow companies raise funds at competitive cost for infrastructure projects, it said.
?Risk associated with raising of such bonds can be adequately taken care of with proper regulatory mechanism in place. This will ensure larger subscription to such debt raising facilities for corporates,? it added.
The country?s corporate bond and debt market are not as developed as the stock markets are.
It also asked the Finance Ministry to allow private equity firms to access provident and pension funds to part finance projects in infrastructure sector.