The previous calendar year was a landmark one for fundraising via corporate bonds (on a private placement basis), with a record high of Rs 9.58 trillion being mobilised by 920 institutions and corporates.

According to PRIME Database, this was a 26% jump from 2022. Pranav Haldea, managing director of PRIME Database Group, said a surge in credit demand, thanks to a strong economic growth and constrained liquidity in the banking system, triggered the jump.

The data consist of deals — both listed and unlisted — which have a tenure and put/call option of above 365 days, and for which the amount was available.

Based on the type of issuer, the highest mobilisation was by the financial institutions/banks category, at Rs 4.72 trillion. This was in comparison to Rs 3.66 trillion in 2022, an increase of 29%. A 40% boost in mobilisation was witnessed by the private sector (excluding banks/financial institutions) to Rs 4.45 trillion, compared with Rs 3.19 trillion in 2022.

Meanwhile, government entities collectively mobilised 41% of the total mop-up. In 2022, their share was 38% of the overall pie. State-owned financial institutions and banks dominated with an 89% share.

The highest mobilisation through debt private placements was by HDFC (Rs 74,062 crore), followed by NABARD (Rs 63,164 crore), PFC (Rs 52,575 crore), REC (Rs 51,354) and SBI (Rs 51,080 crore). The top five issuers in 2023 raised Rs 2.92 trillion (31% of the total), in comparison to Rs 1.96 trillion (or 26%) by the top five in 2022.

The year also saw 404 first-time issuers hitting the market, compared with 408 last year.