Municipal Bonds

A municipality, township, or state may issue bonds or fixed income securities to fund their own projects. These are referred to as municipal bonds. "Mun bonds" or "muni" are other terms for municipal bonds. what is municipal bonds, lets dive in for in-depth understanding. municipal bonds meaning in India primarily revolves around providing means for municipalities to raise funds for their projects.

What Is Municipal Bond?

Central Government of India, State Governments, & Local Municipal Bodies comprise three tiers of Indian government. taxes that federal & state governments levy on citizens provide money needed for their development projects. Both direct & indirect taxes are included in this. municipal bonds meaning when it issued by Government sub entity which is municipalise project.

Types Of Municipal Bonds

In India, municipal bonds are mainly divided into two categories based on how they are used. They are as follows:

1.All-purpose obligation match As name implies, general obligation bonds are issued to raise money for regional infrastructure improvements & other broad projects. Revenue from various initiatives & taxes are used to cover bond's repayment as well as interest.
2. On other hand, revenue bonds are issued to raise money for certain initiatives, like building certain structure. principal & interest on these bonds must be repaid with funds specifically obtained from projects that have been announced.
Revenue Generation Bond: Funds from projects that use revenue bonds as collateral must be put into escrow account. Financial institutions are keeping eye on this account.
 

Who Should Consider Municipal Bonds?

Municipal bonds are safe investment choice for people looking to reduce risk element associated with their investment portfolio because they are rated according to their creditworthiness prior to being issued to general public.

Aside from that, number of these bonds have interest rates that are significantly greater than those of other fixed-income securities. For example, Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority gave interest rate of 8.9% on their municipal bond funds, whereas Pune issued municipal bonds at coupon rate of 7.5%.

Therefore, companies that want to grow their capital & have assurance of return on investment should also purchase these financial products.

Sebi Guidelines On Municipal Bonds

In order to be eligible to issue municipal bonds in India, municipality must fulfill following requirements: 

• municipality's net worth cannot have been negative for any of three years prior.
• municipality cannot be included on Reserve Bank of India's list of wilful defaulters. 
• municipality, promoter, & directors cannot have defaulted on debt securities & loans obtained from banks or non-banking financial businesses within last year. Regarding debt instruments, municipality shouldn't maintain any records of missed interest payments or principal repayments.
   

Advantages Of Municipal Bonds

Following is list of these bonds' drawbacks:

1. Extended maturity duration: Investors' liquidity needs are strained by three-year lock-in period associated with municipal bonds. However, it may be difficult to sell these assets in secondary market too soon if bonds are issued by controversial municipal corporation. reason for this is because entities in these situations are unsure of their legitimacy & willingness to yield.
2. Low Interest: Despite fact that these bonds can have interest rates higher than those of other debt instruments, these rates pale in comparison to profits on market-linked financial instruments like equity shares.
 

How To Invest In Municipal Bonds

You can purchase them directly from issuing municipality or through dealers, brokerage houses, online debt & trading platforms.
 most well-known debt & investment platform in India, Aspero, provides quick & simple method for investing in municipal bonds. Look through several bond categories, make quick investment, & keep easy eye on everything in one location.
Municipal bonds can be purchased by anybody via banks, brokerage houses, internet investing platforms, and, in certain situations, directly from municipalities.

Risks Associated With Municipal Bonds

Municipal bonds are not guaranteed by federal government & are subject to occasional default even though they are generally safe bonds with low default risk. That being said, municipal bonds are still considerably safer choice to corporate bonds.
Usually, municipal bonds have call provision. bond may be redeemed by issuer before to its maturity date under call provision. Since investor won't get any further interest after bond is called in, there is risk involved.
In times of low market interest rates, issuers will choose to utilize call provision. This is why they can issue new bonds with lower interest rates after paying off existing ones with higher rates.

Conclusion

Municipal bonds, often referred to as tax-exempt bonds, are debt securities issued by local government bonds. These bonds are categorized into two main types: revenue bonds, which are repaid from specific revenue sources, & general obligation bonds, backed by issuing government's credit & taxing power. Investors rely on bond ratings to assess creditworthiness of these bonds. yield curve for municipal bonds helps in understanding their interest rate structure over different maturity dates. To enhance security, issuers may opt for bond insurance, providing additional protection to bondholders.