AP split leaves state-backed bondholders high and dry

Investors await payments as Andhra and Telangana dispute AP power bonds post-bifurcation

- Sashind Ningthoukhongjam

Imagine this. You invested in a bond that was set to mature in June. You even planned your life around the principal you were supposed to get back. It was guaranteed by a state government, after all! Sadly, six months have gone by and you're still waiting. That's not all. While you are waiting for your funds, you learn that some other investors in the same bond got their money back in full and on time.

This is what happened to 68-year-old Rakesh Seksaria, who invested ₹10 lakh in Andhra Pradesh Power Finance Corporation Ltd (APPFCL) bonds. The 9.4% bond was set to mature in June 2024, but six months have passed and he hasn't received anything. He said his family invested ₹70 lakh in the bond issue as it was guaranteed by the state.

Delhi-based chartered accountant Manoj Agarwal, whose father, 65, had invested ₹20 lakh in the bond, is hit, so is R.K. Tandon, 71, who put in ₹10 lakh.

"Despite trying repeatedly, I've not been able to meet the government officials," said Agarwal. "Interest payments used to be delayed by a month or two but now when the bonds have matured, they have not said anything for the past six months."

Cracks started appearing in the state government-backed bonds after Telangana carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Now, the two states are fighting over how to bifurcate the bond commitments. Of the seven bonds issued by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the June 2024 one was the last to mature.

Emails sent to APPFCL, the Telangana government, and SBICAP Trustee Company Ltd, the bond's trustee, remained unanswered.