KOCHI: A delegation from the Kochi Municipal Corporation, led by Mayor M Anil Kumar, will shortly meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to fast‑track the city’s long-anticipated municipal bond issue.
Speaking to businessbenchmark.news, Anil Kumar said, “Several issues need resolution with the state government. A meeting with the chief minister is the next logical step -I have personally requested his time.”
According to discussions with the Kerala Urban Policy Commission, the Kochi Corporation must assemble a professional advisory team to manage due diligence, financial audits, and procedural compliance.
The mayor added that Kochi officials have already engaged SEBI – meeting with whole-time member Ashwin Bhatia – and are finalising the choice of credit rating agency to rate the planned bond issuance.
The Corporation aims to raise Rs10–25 crore, earmarked for constructing a commercial complex with a community hall and retail facilities.
Mayors to meet govt
Meanwhile, mayors across Kerala have formally approached the state government, underlining the need for dedicated professional teams to facilitate municipal bond issuance.
A finance department official observed: “Bond issue will be a blessing to the local self‑government entities as they are not legitimized to raise funds on their own.”
As per Kochi Corporation’s FY24 financials (though full audit details are pending update), the asset base stood at approximately Rs963 crore, with Rs644 crore in reserves and surplus. Tax revenue totaled around Rs184 crore, of which Rs128 crore was property tax.
Kochi’s move comes amid growing interest in municipal bonds among Tier-2 cities across India. Pune was among the first to issue municipal bonds post-SEBI’s 2015 regulations, raising Rs200 crore in 2017.
Indore followed in 2018, raising Rs170 crore for a water project, while Lucknow and Ghaziabad have also tapped the market in recent years. These successful issuances underscore the potential for mid-sized cities like Kochi to access capital markets for urban infrastructure financing – provided they meet credit and governance benchmarks.
