Bharat Bond ETF third tranche to launch today; should you subscribe?

The government is all set to launch the third tranche of Bharat Bond ETF today, December 3, 2021. The new fund offer (NFO), referred as Bharat Bond ETF April 2032, will continue till December 9. The new ETF is a 10-year product, which will mature in April 2032.  

Bharat Bond ETF is an Exchange Traded Fund listed on NSE, which invests your money in public sector bonds. The fund has a defined maturity date wherein you will receive your investment amount with returns. You can buy or sell units on exchange (NSE) anytime during the tenure of the fund.    

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The Government of India intends to raise around Rs 10000 crore through this ETF. In its first trance, it raised around Rs 12400 crore. In the second tranche in July 2020, it was subscribed more than three times, collecting about Rs 11,000 crore.

Earlier on Thursday, NSE Indices Limited, NSE’s index services subsidiary, has launched one more index under the Nifty BHARAT Bond Index series.  

The new index has been launched within the Nifty BHARAT Bond Index series: Nifty BHARAT Bond Index - April 2032.  “The upcoming BHARAT Bond ETF, which is fifth in the series will track the newly launched Nifty BHARAT Bond Index maturing in 2032 and will provide more investment choices to fixed income investors," said Mukesh Agarwal, CEO, NSE Indices.  

Should you Subscribe?  

Saying the Bharat Bond ETF offers a reliable and tax-efficient debt investment option for long-term investors, the ICICI Direct Research report has recommended to subscribe.  

"Bharat bond ETFs provide a higher degree of certainty of returns (if held to maturity) with a higher safety of capital as it invests in government-owned AAA-rated public sector bonds. With the current prevailing low-interest rate regime, which is likely to continue, some allocation could be considered by investors looking to lock in safe and predictable returns and not concerned about intermittent interest rate volatility," the report said.

5 reasons to invest  
The report has highlighted 5 key investment rationale before recommending to subscribe. These are higher return, stability, liquidity, tax-efficient and low cost.

Higher return: Gross yield at 6.87% and tentative net of tax yield at around 6.4%.

Stability, Predictability, Safety: An ETF/MF-like structure with fixed maturity issued by AAA-rated PSE provides predictable and stable returns with low credit risk.

Liquidity: Buy/sell on an exchange any time or through AMC in a specific basket size. Edelweiss has also come out with a Bharat Bond FoF. It enables retail investors to enter and exit just like mutual funds  

Tax efficient: Tax efficient compared to traditional investment avenues. Taxed at only 20% post indexation, excluding surcharge  

Low cost: The expense ratio of the ETF is only 0.0005%