Fund raising via preferential allotment down 17 pc to Rs 40,000 crore

New Delhi: Indian firms mopped-up over Rs 40,000 crore through issuance of shares to promoters and shareholders on preferential basis in 11 months of the current fiscal, a slump of 17 per cent from the year-ago period.

The funds have been raised for business expansion plans, repayment of loan, meeting working capital requirements and for other corporate purposes. Indian companies mobilised Rs 40,081 crore through preferential allotment of shares from April-February 2016-17, according to the latest data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

In the entire 2015-16, Rs 50,513 crore was raised through 355 preferential allotments. The amount raised by the firms in the first 11 months of the current fiscal is 16.82 per cent lower than the sum raised in the same period of 2015-16, which stood at Rs 48,187 crore. There were 357 preferential allotments during the period under consideration while the in the year-ago period, the allotments stood at 321.

In the current fiscal, January has been the busiest month with the firms raising Rs 8,756 crore through this route, followed by October, September and May when they mopped-up Rs 5,839 crore, Rs 5,718 crore and Rs 5,218 crore respectively.