At the first leg, one SBI Caps team will hold roadshows at Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta -- the hub of NRIs. Parallel roadshows will be held in London, Frankfurt and Paris selling the five-year deposits denominated in dollars, pound sterling and Deutsche marks. The dollar deposit will carry a coupon of 7.75 per cent, pound sterling 8 per cent and DM 6.25 per cent.

"We are yet to chalk out the detailed schedule for roadshows. It has been decided that about seven teams will hawk the issue to NRIs across the globe barring those places where local laws donot permit pre-issue campaign," said SBI Caps managing director A R Barwe. For instance, the SBI Caps team will visit South Africa to meet the NRIs but will not be able to hold any roadshows because of local regulations. Another likely "trouble spot" is the US where the regulatory authority -- Securities Exchange Council (SEC) -- has not yet given the green signal. "We are expecting the clearance next week. One team will visit New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose and another Pittsburgh and Canada," Barwe said.

The RIBs will be eligible for investment by NRIs, OCBs and banks acting in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of NRIs and OCBs. Both the principal amount as well as interest -- payable half yearly or on a maturity basis -- are repatriated for NRIs. The face value of the bond will be $2000 for dollar denominated instrument, 1000 for pound sterling bonds and DM 3000 for Deutsche mark bonds.

Premature encashment of the bond will be permitted in Indian currency after sixmonths for the date of allotment without any penalty. The NRIs will be able to jointly hold the bond with resident Indians. The instrument -- which could be gifted to resident Indians -- will be transferable between NRIs and OCBs. The bonds will be exempted from income tax, wealth tax and gift tax. The tax benefits will be available to the donors as well as transferees.