India's Tata Group units plan bond sales after year-long gap, bankers say

MUMBAI: Two of India’s Tata Group infrastructure units are set to return to the corporate bond market in the coming days, after more than 15 months, two merchant bankers said on Tuesday.

Indian corporate bond yields have eased after the Reserve Bank of India maintained key policy rates unchanged last week, providing some relief to the market.

Tata Steel is set to raise 30 billion rupees ($313.23 million) through a sale of five-year bonds, while Tata Projects, a real estate firm, could raise 5 billion rupees to 10 billion rupees through a combination of three-year and five-year papers.

“Both the companies have alerted merchant bankers, and are waiting for the rates to ease further before tapping the market,” one of the bankers said.

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The bankers asked not to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media. Tata Projects did not reply to an email seeking comment, while Tata Steel said, “We do not have any imminent plans for any issuances of bonds.”

Before the RBI’s rate decision, yields on AAA-rated two-to-five-year corporate bonds rose past 8%, their highest level since early 2019, according to LSEG data, and have crashed by around 50 basis points since.

Tata Steel, which has over 150 billion rupees in outstanding bonds, has a 10-billion-rupee maturity coming up in October. The AAA-rated borrower last tapped the market in February 2025, raising 30 billion rupees via five-year bonds at a 7.65% coupon.

During the same month, AA-rated Tata Projects raised 5 billion rupees by selling six-year bonds at 8.60% coupon.