Also read about the REC Infrastructure bonds here or the IDFC Infrastructure Bonds Tranche 2 here.
Like NPS, I have not written much about Infrastructure Bonds, and reader Gaurav helped me yet again by providing some information to start off this post about Infrastructure bonds, and a big thanks to him for that.
Since IDFC is coming out with its long term infrastructure bonds – I thought I’d take this opportunity to tell you about the IDFC infrastructure bonds, as well as cover the basic concept as well.
Tax Saving Long Term Infrastructure Bonds
A popular reason to invest in long term infrastructure bonds is because they allow you to reduce Rs.20,000Â from your taxable income over and above the Rs. 100,000 limit under Section 80 (C).
So, the most you can reduce your taxable income without using the long term infrastructure bonds is Rs. 100,000, but investing money in these bonds gets you an extra Rs. 20,000 off your taxable income, and you can reduce your taxable income by a total of Rs. 120,000 by investing in these long term infrastructure bonds.
This increases your effective yield because along with the interest you earn on these infrastructure bonds, you save on tax as well.
These bonds are good for a maximum of Rs. 20,000 as far as the tax saving aspect is concerned, so if you buy bonds worth Rs. 30,000 and nothing else, even then the maximum you can reduce from your taxable income is Rs. 20,000 because that is the cap on tax benefits on infrastructure bonds.
From whatever I’ve read – I think that the Direct Tax Code (DTC) will not impact the tax saving aspect of these long term infrastructure bonds, but if someone knows otherwise, then please leave a comment about it; I think there is a little bit of uncertainty about this.
Features of the IDFC Long Term Infrastructure Bond
The tax aspect that I spoke about earlier is of course one of the major benefits of the IDFC Infrastructure bonds, but let’s take a look at some of its other features as well.
Interest Rate of 7.5% or 8.0%
These bonds are getting issued under two lock in options:
1. Ten year maturity: The bond will be issued with a ten year maturity and offer 8.0% interest per annum.
2. Ten year maturity with an option for buy-back after 5 years: This bond will also be issued with a ten year maturity, but there will be buy back option after 5 years. The interest rate on this is 7.5% per annum.
Further, under each of these options, you can choose to get the interest accumulate or paid out to you annually.
Minimum Investment in the IDFC Long Term Infrastructure Bond
The face value of the infrastructure bond is Rs. 5,000, and you have to apply for a minimum of two bonds, so the minimum investment in this infrastructure bond is Rs. 10,000.
Open and Close date
The infrastructure bond issue opened on September 30th 2010, and will close on October 18th 2010.
Credit Rating
IDFC has received the LAAA by ICRA which is it’s highest rating, and these infrastructure bonds are secured debt also, so in that respect they are relatively safe.
Listing on the stock exchange
After the initial lock in period, the bonds will list on NSE and BSE, and you’d have an option of selling them on the exchange if you don’t want to wait till maturity.
How do these bonds compare with fixed deposits?
A quick look at my fixed deposit interest rates page shows me that most banks are currently offering between 7.25% to 8.00%, so the interest rates on the IDFC bonds are quite comparable.
However, and this is a big however, there are several banks that offer interest rates of 7.5% or thereabouts for lower durations like 2 or 3 years as well.
So, you could potentially be stuck with a lower interest rate if interest rates climb up in the future.
The other thing is that the IDFC Infrastructure bonds compound annually, whereas some of the bank fixed deposits might compound quarterly which gives you a slight edge as well.
How can you invest in IDFC Infrastructure Bonds?
First off, let me tell you that you can’t invest in these bonds by writing an email to me. Regular readers won’t believe the number of emails I get from people who want to invest in Tata Motors or Sriram Finance fixed deposits. I think the people who write these emails are mostly search engine visitors, so I hope at least some of them will see this.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, you can invest in the IDFC infrastructure bonds by going through your broker like ICICI Direct or by approaching a bank that’s the authorized to sell it.
Here are the details from the IDFC page:
To Invest in IDFC Infrastructure Bonds
Direct No. Internal Ext No. Darshana Thanawala : 022-4342 2860 22860 Pooja Pawar : 022-4342 2887 22887 Pooja Panchal : 022-4342 2849 22849 Contact / Visit : Any of the nearest Lead Managers / Brokers ( listed below )
LEAD MANAGERS CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INDIA PRIVATEÂ LTD KOTAK MAHINDRA CAPITAL COMPANY LTD ENAM SECURITIES PRIVATE LTD IDFC CAPITAL LTD LEAD BROKERS Kotak Securities Ltd. Enam Securities Private Ltd Sharekhan Ltd JM Financial Services Pvt. Ltd ICICI Securities Ltd RR Equity Brokers ( P) Ltd SMC Global Securities Ltd Bajaj Capital Ltd Almondz Global Securities Ltd HDFC Securities Ltd NJ India Invest Private Ltd INVEST ONLINE WITH Sharekhan Ltd ICICI Securities Ltd HDFC Securities Ltd Queries : For any Queries on IDFC Infrastructure Bonds
Email : [email protected]
Website : www.idfc.comCall : 022 – 43422 860 / 43422 887 / 43422 849
Issue closes : October 18, 2010
As a final word, thanks to Gaurav for nudging me to write this, and please leave your comments to add any thoughts you might have.
Click here to read some more points about the IDFC Infrastructure Bonds.
arey sir dont say thanks plz… i’m throwing just a bucket of water in an ocean (i mean you.. :-))
As now even REC is issuing these bonds at 8% interest, I dont think any other IFC status company would be issuing bonds at a higher rate than these… so people expecting higher interest rates should start investing in either IDFC or REC for their tax saving..
For any information about Infra Bonds like IDFC or REC or to invest, you can contact us at 9811797407
one more thing thats going to increase red cells in your blood.. :-).. i mean its already open & as you wrote above with the Tata Motors example, REC bonds opening date was January 12th & i think probably no single newspaper, which i regularly read, wrote about it.. chalo good hai !!.. at least closing date se pehle pata chal gaya.. :-).. waise the closing date is March 28th & REC aims to garner Rs. 50 Cr. from the public & will retain the oversubscribed portion.. its offering 8% with buyback option & 8.1% without buyback option.. but there is no cumulative interest option which is quite surprising to me.. the bonds are very well rated by four rating agencies ‘AAA/Stable’ by Crisil, ‘CARE AAA’ by CARE, ‘LAAA’ by ICRA & ‘AAA (IND)’ by Fitch…
Man!!! I had no idea! Thanks for letting me know!
hehe.. sure i do understand.. & thanks for not blocking it.. actually in the last 2 weeks or so i’ve been getting many tax saving queries & as these Infra Bonds are new kids on the block, people are just flocking to these bonds on the last or second last day of their “Tax Declaration Date” or “Tax Saving Investments Proofs Submission Date” in the office. It just keeps running around my mind and even as I’m writing these lines IDFC forms & REC forms are lying on my table.. so probably that made me write those lines… 🙂
That’s cool – I didn’t realize REC has also declared its dates – when is that opening Shiv?
Yes it is but the forms are already there in the markets so people can start thinking on those lines as we need to get rid of the habit of doing things only on the last minute.. 🙂
& sorry if it misguides but no such intention here.. 🙂
Alrighty – thank you for your clarification Shiv.
In the past an adviser used to post comments asking people to subscribe to Tata Motors FD long after the FD was closed, and when I asked him, and them emailed him about it – he just ignored my message. I had to block him. Then someone was posting crappy spammy messages for subscribing to infra bonds, and I had to block her too.
I don’t want anyone getting scammed on my blog, and at the same time don’t want to block people who’re making an honest living. I hope you understand, and I’m glad you responded promptly, and I didn’t block you.
Hi
I’m an Independent Financial Advisor based in South Delhi. Currently IDFC Infra Bonds are up for subscription and closing on February 4th. I think Infra Bonds are a good investment option as they offer tax deduction u/s 80CCF on an investment of Rs. 20,000 over and above Rs. 1 lakh deduction u/s. 80C. The tenure of the bonds is actually 10 years but after 5 years of lock-in period you can either redeem the bonds back to IDFC, which is called a buyback facility, or sell these bonds on stock exchanges. The bonds carry a coupon rate of 8%.
To Invest in Infrastructure Bonds & Save Tax u/s. 80CCF, you can Call/SMS: 9811797407 (Delhi, Gurgaon & Noida only)
Shiv – isn’t IDFC going to open on 17th?
I have applied for IFCI infrastructure bonds Online (demat) but not yet received the certificates
I have applied for IDFC bonds Online (demat) but not yet received the certificates
I would like to know currently which are the long term infra structure bonds available under 80CCF. Pl confirm so that I can purchase immediately
Sanjeev a reader just left a comment, and informed that IFCI has extended their date to 12th January 2011, so if you’re interested in that one you still have time.
I have taken IDFC bond in phsically form. I want to know that when I will get my cetificiate of bonds so that I can inform my office for tax saving purpose.
You should have gotten it already Manik, so please check with your agent to see what happened. Was that credited to your Demat account yet?
Sir , I don’t understand how the yield calculation for different tax slabs has been done for the different options of this Bond . Please can you show the working in detail .
Here is a post that I did explaining how links are calculated Jignesh.
http://www.onemint.com/2010/10/30/how-do-the-issuers-calculate-yield-for-tax-saving-bonds/
Here is another one that explains what the limitations are in calculating yields this way.
http://www.onemint.com/2010/10/26/limitations-of-the-way-yields-are-calculated-for-tax-saving-bonds/comment-page-1/
I have taken infra bond in phsically form. I want to know that when i will get my cetificiate of bonds
No one has reported that they have gotten it yet, and I haven’t heard any communication on when it can be so you will have to just wait. As soon as I hear anyone getting the physical form I’ll leave a comment here.
Reader Ravi has left a comment today stating that he received his physical bond certificate so you can expect yours to come soon if they haven’t already.
I have taken L & T long term infra bond in physically form. I want to know that when i will get my certificate of bonds. because of this delay i am unable to show in tax saving declaration in my organization. Our organization can not consider the receipt of form submitted. So if any i idea please help me. how can i get my certificate.
Well, they haven’t announced that yet, so can’t say when it will come. Sorry.
The article is good indeed, but I think the tax deduction from investing in the Infrastructure Bonds are U/S 80CCF.
Yes Palash, you’re right – the section under which these particular bonds are covered is 80 CCF, however I chose to reference 80C in the second para because that’s the one with the 1 lakh limit.
But you’re right the section for the infra bonds is 80 CCF.
please given me detail my investment.
aplication no.3917897
cheque no. 575359 pnb.
yours
subhash chandra chauhan.
Please get in touch with whoever sold this to you Subhash.
is there an option of getting interest for the pre allotment period
I don’t think they’re going to pay out interest for that time. I think the interest start from the day the security comes to your demat account Sushma. Does anyone know differently?
how many shares i will get in powergrid fpo as a retail investor ? i applied for 1105 shares. thank you
Thank you very much Manshu.
However, i am very sad for seeing this iformation very late. I would like to take your advices for any tax saving options.
Currently, I have LIC for 40k per year as 1 tax saving option.
Please let me know your suggestions. if any new infrastructure bonds are coming up, please let me know.
Regards
Raj
Don’t be disheartened Raj because IDFC has said that they’re going to come up with these bonds again before the end of the fiscal year, so you have another chance of subscribing to them. They might even give a higher rate.
dear manshu, really discussion are wonderful and informative thanks for such valued inputs on personal finance
Thanks a lot for your kind words Sanjay, and yeah this discussion has been great! Thanks for participating!
You are right Amit, I stand corrected. There will be a 5000 odd profit after 10 years if we compare both investments. Yes, there is some logic to buy these bonds keeping in mind the two questions rightly pointed out by Manshu.
Hemant, very impressed by your ability to acknowledge this! Appreciate your question and comments very much!
Thanks Manshu. For me the discussion was very educative. Thank you onemint!
Hi
The article is quite informative. But I doubt whether the IDFC bonds issue is beneficial or an eyewash. Please consider my viewpoint as given below.
The 1.0 lac limit goes to 1.2 lacs. Thus the salaried person who is affected by 30% slab will get a refund of 6600 approx(he is most benefitted). Assuming that he gets this refund immediately(which may not be), and he puts the same amount of 6600 in additional purchase of IDFC bonds, I can say that for an investment of Rs 20000(actual), he is getting returns for Rs 26600(with IT benefit). These returns on Rs 26600 will count to Rs 57,427 at the end of 10 years, 8% rate (compounded). Now at the end of 10 years, we can assume that the person will still be affected by 30% slab(it may be more that time), Rs 17,228 out of these returns will have to be sacrificed for IT(it is not tax free). So the approx net return will be 57427-17228=40,199.
Now, suppose this person decides to invest these 20,000 in PPF or FD even at 8%(above 1lac so I am not counting IT benefit) he will get Rs 43,178 at the end of 10 years.
So the loss in putting money in IDFC bond is Rs 2979. The actual loss will be more than this because the Rs 6600 benefit will come after one year. The loss will be more to persons affected by 20% slab.
With this, please tell me, is it worth purchasing these bonds?
In my comment, in the 7th last line , for ‘PPF or FD’ read ‘PPF’.
From what I understand, the crux of your argument lies in comparing an instrument whose interest income is not taxed with another whose interest income is in fact taxed.
Given that, I’d think about a couple of points:
1. Has the 1 lakh limit for saving tax reached? If no, then obviously you have other options because the key selling point for these bonds is that they allow you to save “extra” tax.
2. The next question is whether in fact the PPF limit has been reached, or is there still have room to go there? If there is, then most likely the 1 lakh limit is also not reached, so probably makes more sense to exhaust that first.
I raise these two questions because everyone’s tax and investment situation is different so the things that people need to consider are different.
point taken. it is about saving extra tax when 1 lac limit is exhausted.
why do you intend to repurchase IDFC bonds from the 6600 benefit??
the best way is to get tax benefit by selecting series 3.
I think your calculation is wrong, the interest out of this investment is Rs30,827, you will only be charged tax on the interest. So your tax will be Rs9,248. So your net return will be 57427-9,248=48178.9. Please correct me if I am wrong