But what really makes the safety bonds more wholesome fare is the option they offer of re-selling to ICICI. Though the institution has been coming out with bonds issues since 1995, it made the instrument more attractive to the retail investor than others in the market about a year-and-a-half ago, when it started what is called the ATS (any time sale) facility. The move has infused some amount of liquidity into an instrument that could otherwise have been sold only in the secondary market. In fact, ICICI is the only player that makes its safety bonds literally "any time bonds".

The public issue of unsecured redeemable bonds in the nature of debentures aggregating Rs 250 crore, with a right to retain oversubscription upto the same amount, is offering investors three kinds of schemes: the Tax saving Bond, the Regular Income Bond and the Money Multiplier Bond.

The Tax Saving Bond offers a 20 per cent tax rebate under Section 88 for investments of up to Rs 80,000 for the two options it offers: one, wherein interest accrues annually, and the other, wherein it is applied cumulatively. With respective returns of 10.5 per cent and 10.6 per cent, the yield effectively goes up to 21.7 per cent and 19.7 per cent, assuming that a surcharge of 15 per cent is payable in both. The second option is in the nature of a deep discount bond. Minimum application is for one bond with a face value of Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 for tenures of three years and three years and four months, respectively.

The Regular Income Bond offers three options wherein interest is payable monthly, half-yearly and annually at the rates of 10.75 per cent, 11 per cent and 11.4 per cent, respectively. The tenure for each is five years.

Minimum application is for three, two and one bond(s) under the three options with a face value of Rs 5,000 per bond. The net effective yield to the investor is a little over 11 per cent, subject to TDS of course.

It is specially with regard to the Money Multiplier Bond-in the nature of a deep discount bond-that ICICI is promising the investor that there won't be a roll-back of the scheme. Here, one can apply for a minimum of one bond with a face value of Rs 5,000, which will fetch a net effective yield ranging from around 11 per cent to about 11.6 per cent.

What is worthwhile from the investor's viewpoint is the fact that the investment doubles in about six-and-a-half years and trebles in 10 years. In a little less then 15 years, it grows five times and if you are really into long-term planning, then you can hope to see it grow 10 times.

While most of this sounds like what any other bond offers, ICICI manages to make its scheme a little more attractive by offering to buy it back should you need money to meet a sudden exigency. Though bonds are listed as tradable instruments, it is difficult for a small investor to dispose of them in the secondary market, simply because it is only the big players, who deal in holdings ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore, who dominate the debt instrument market. Small investors who hold bonds of small denominations finding selling tough.

For this, ICICI draws up a weekly rate list on the basis of movements in the debt instruments market. As these fluctuate on a daily basis, ICICI makes its own valuations once in a week to arrive at rates at which it offers to repurchase its safety bonds. In fact, insiders claim that bonds of the Rs 5,000 denomination are sold at a premium most of the time. That one feature alone should make the safety bonds an investment option worth considering.