BSE to list LMC bond next month
Lucknow Municipal Corporation is all set to adorn the corporate culture as its first-ever bond will be listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 2 next.
The listing of its bond will not only change the working style of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation but also directly benefit the people of the state capital.
“This will not only enhance the development, beautification and cleanliness standards of the city but also give LMC the option of bearing the cost of implementing development plans of the capital,” a senior official said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be witness to the historic event along with other renowned industrialists of India when the LMC bond gets listed in the BSE.
The bond will be market-oriented and transparent and will give further impetus to the LMC by raising its finances to be used in the development of the city.
“The state government is also preparing to encourage other local bodies to emulate the achievements of the LMC,” said Lucknow Municipal Commissioner Ajay Kumar Dwivedi.
It is expected that the municipal corporations of Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Agra and Kanpur Nagar may also release their bonds in the coming months, he added.
The Rs 200 crore-bond issue was floated just before Diwali and was oversubscribed by more than 225 percent (Rs 450 crore). The 10-year bond closed at a very attractive rate with a jump of 8.5 percent, which is a record.
It may be mentioned here that the decision to release the bond in the BSE was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Investors’ Summit held in Lucknow in 2018.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also took this as a challenge to launch the first municipal bond under the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme in North India.
“The over-subscription of the bonds also indicates that the investors are showing interest in the improving economic environment of the country and the step also symbolises a change in urban governance,” Dwivedi said.