MUMBAI, Aug 12: Enthused by the success of State Bank of India (SBI)'s Resurgent India Bonds (RIBs), the Unit Trust of India (UTI) has decided to launch its India Millennium Bonds as soon as it gets the green signal from the Ministry of Finance. The $ 500 million bonds issue is targeted at the non-resident Indians who seek to invest in the Indian equity markets.Top UTI officials say that a draft plan of the issue has been already prepared and sent to the finance ministry. ``The response of the State Bank's bonds issue would decide ministry's strategy on the issue. The UTI has recommended to launch its issue by the October-November this year,'' officials said.``The overwhelming response received by the RIBs has helped us to finalise our plans. As our target, as compared to RIBs, is very modest, we do not think there would be any problems in marketing this issue,'' sources add. The UTI is looking at both institutional investors as well as retail investors for subscription.The launch of UTI's MillenniumFund was announced by the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha in his Union Budget speech of 1997-98. However, unlike SBI's RIBs, the UTI bond will not offer guaranteed returns. ``As the proceeds of the Millennium Bond would be invested in the capital markets, we are not giving any guaranteed returns. However, we are looking at the option of giving guarantee of partial returns,'' officials said.Whether the current state of sagging capital markets would affect the issue, UTI officials say they are waiting for the markets to revive by the time the issue is being launched. ``At present, shares of Indian blue chips are undervalued. As soon as the investors realise that they are getting shares at a bargain price, the markets would go up,'' officials add. UTI already has six offshore funds, of which two are listed abroad. All the offshore funds issued by the Trust has received good response.
