The market was tapped by 48 institutional and corporates through 69 issues, according to a study by Prime Database. The highest mobilisation was by Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) at Rs 774 crore followed by Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) at Rs 590 crore and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) at Rs 570 crore.

FIs and banks accounted for 34 per cent of all mobilisation through this route followed by state-level undertakings (27 per cent), private sector (20 per cent) and PSUs (18 per cent), Prime said.

During the period, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) raised Rs 415 crore, Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Rs 320 crore, MKVDC Rs 303 crore and RSEB Rs 300 crore.

During 1997-98, FIs and PSUs had accounted for 75 per cent of allmobilisations against the 80 per cent by the government organisations during the first quarter. However, during 1997-98, the mobilisation was lower at 75 per cent compared with 90 per cent in 1996-97.

A notable feature of the first quarter, Prime said, was the rise in the number of state-level undertakings raising resources for infrastructure funding.

State undertakings raised Rs 1812 crore during April-June compared to Rs 1233 crore raised by PSUs.

The first quarter witnessed a marked fall in the mobilisation by the private sector. The first quarter of 1998-99 saw private sector raising Rs 1371 crore against a Rs 7763 crore in the entire fiscal 1997-98.

Following the financial sector as the largest mobiliser of funds (Rs 2594 crore) was the power sector (Rs 1288 crore), steel (Rs 877 crore) and water resources (Rs 517 crore), Prime said.

As the mobilisers and investors were mainly institutions, this did not reflect any direct mobilisation of household savings. Private placement market became activemainly due to the investor apathy towards the primary market for both debt and equity. In fact, the poor retail response to equity issues from manufacturing companies has forced most of the companies tap their shareholders for part-financing their expansion plans and working capital requirements.

The private placement route is all the more attractive since companies can secure the subscription as well as save on both time and issue expenditure.