SBI Buys Nearly 40% of Reliance’s $1.35 Billion Debt Sale

State Bank of India, India’s largest lender, led demand for Reliance Industries’ ₹130 billion ($1.35 billion) 10-year bond sale completed on Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the transaction. SBI is estimated to have purchased nearly ₹50 billion of the bonds, accounting for about 40% of the offering.

The bonds received AAA ratings from Crisil and CareEdge and carry an annual coupon of 7.90%. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, SBI Pension Fund and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance were also among the major investors. Demand was supported by limited availability of long-term, high-quality debt securities.

The transaction follows Reliance’s ₹120 billion five-year bond issue two weeks earlier, which carried a 7.47% coupon. Indian companies have increasingly turned to domestic bond markets for funding, with Delhi International Airport and Vedanta also issuing rupee-denominated notes this week, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is considering a bond sale of around ₹100 billion.

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