Companies are rushing to the National Stock Exchange to list their debt paper. The Reserve Bank of India and the Securities Exchange Board of India gave them time till March 31 next year to list paper.

The rush started a day or two ago, but may now slow down. Industry sources said Reliance Industries Ltd and BSES have moved NSE to list debt paper worth Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion).

Others which are in the process of moving the exchange include AV Birla group companies, Larsen & Toubro and a string of public sector outfits.

The list of PSUs includes the National Thermal Power Corporation, the Power Finance Corporation, Hudco, Indian Railway Finance Corporation.

In the financial sector, ICICI Bank and Housing Development Finance Corporation are the largest issuers of unlisted debt paper.

"It involves a lot of paperwork. However, we are going ahead with the listing," said a senior corporate executive.

The RBI has capped banks' investment in unlisted bonds at 20 per cent of the total portfolio. The central bank does not anticipate any problem in the debt market as most of the companies are rated entities and it does not take long to list a debt security on the bourse.

Under the old norms, unlisted bonds issued by companies are traded on the NSE platform as permitted category. Now these papers will be listed with the issuers offering full disclosures.

The maiden bond issue of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to raise around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) was stalled following the new norms.

Konkan Railway Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation, Nuclear Power Corporation and Gas Authority of India Ltd too deferred their proposed public issues.

Some like Mecon Steel, AP Water Resources, Kerala Power Corporation hope to place their bonds with provident funds and insurance companies as PFs and insurance companies are not covered by the new norms.

The turnover in the corporate bond trading has dipped drastically and only one to one negotiated deals are being struck among mutual funds and primary dealers.

Under the revised guidelines, a listed company has to list the bond issue proposed to be floated for private placement and approach the market with the issue prospectus, as in the case of a public issue.