What is the Electronic Book Provider platform (EBP)?

The Electronic Book Provider platform, universally shortened to EBP, is where most of India's corporate bond issuance actually happens. A private placement above a size threshold cannot be quietly negotiated on the phone; it has to be announced, bid for in a time-boxed window on an anonymous order-driven system, and published afterwards in a fixed data format. This guide covers what the Electronic Book Provider platform is, which issues must use it, how the bidding and allotment work, and what data comes out the other end. It is not investment advice.

Which issues must use the Electronic Book Provider platform?

Chapter VI of SEBI's Master Circular for issue and listing of non-convertible securities, securitised debt instruments, security receipts, municipal debt securities and commercial paper, dated 15 October 2025, makes EBP use mandatory in three cases for private placements of debt securities, non- convertible redeemable preference shares and municipal debt securities:

• a single issue of Rs 20 crore or more, inclusive of any green shoe option;
• a shelf issue of multiple tranches cumulatively amounting to Rs 20 crore or more in a financial year; and
• a subsequent issue where the aggregate of all previous issues by that issuer in the financial year already equals or exceeds Rs 20 crore.

Two more cases are mandatory irrespective of issue size. Private placements by issuers who have been in existence for less than three years. And issuances of PDIs, PNCPS, PCPS, RNCPS and similar non-equity regulatory capital instruments forming part of a bank's or NBFC's capital.

That reduction matters if you are reading anything written before mid-2025. The threshold sat at Rs 50 crore from January 2023, and the consolidated master circular still prints the Rs 50 crore text in a footnote directly beneath the live clause. The same 16 May 2025 circular also brought municipal debt securities inside the mandatory net; before it, an issuer of municipal debt securities could use the EBP if it chose to. Issuers below Rs 20 crore, and issuers of securitised debt instruments, security receipts, commercial paper, certificates of deposit and units of REITs, SM REITs and InvITs, may still access the platform voluntarily. The municipal side is covered in what are municipal debt securities.

Who can bid, and how is the book controlled?

Eligible participants are Qualified Institutional Buyers, explained in what is a QIB, plus any non-QIB the issuer authorises for that specific issue. Enrolment with the EBP is a one-time exercise, and KYC routes differ by participant: the EBP does it for QIBs bidding directly or through an arranger, the issuer does the KYC for non-QIBs bidding directly, and the arranger does it for non-QIBs bidding through an arranger.

Three controls shape the book itself. Each participant confirms to the EBP that it is not using any software, algorithm, bots or other automation tools that would give unfair access when placing bids. No EBP may give preferential access to any bidder on a selective basis. And a participant may not bid for more than Rs 100 crore or 5 per cent of the base issue size, whichever is lower, through an arranger, though foreign portfolio investors may bid through their custodians. An arranger bidding must declare whether each bid is proprietary, on behalf of a client, or consolidated, and for consolidated bids must break out the proprietary portion and name each client with its category and bid size.

How does EBP bidding and allotment work?

Bidding runs between 9 AM and 5 PM on stock exchange working days, and the window must stay open for at least one hour. The issuer announces the bidding at least one working day beforehand, and may change the date or time a maximum of two times. The placement memorandum and term sheet reach the EBP at least two working days before the issue opens, or three working days for an issuer using an EBP for the first time.

The term sheet discloses the shape of the auction in advance: issue size and any green shoe, which cannot exceed five times the base issue size; whether the coupon is zero, fixed or floating; the bid window; the minimum bid lot; open or closed bidding; uniform yield or multiple yield allotment; settlement through a clearing corporation or through the issuer's escrow account; and a T+1 or T+2 settlement cycle.

Bidding is anonymous and order driven. Bids are entered as a price, a coupon in per cent to four decimal places, or a spread in basis points. Where the issuer has specified the coupon, bids are arranged on price time priority; where the coupon or spread is discovered in bidding, they are arranged on yield time priority. Under uniform yield allotment everyone settles at the cut-off; under multiple yield allotment each allottee settles at its own quoted price. Ties at the cut-off are allotted pro rata. Bids can be modified or cancelled during the window, but no cancellation is allowed in the last 10 minutes, where the only permitted revisions are a downward coupon or spread revision, an upward price revision, or an increase in bid size.

An issuer may also carve out an anchor portion within the base issue size, with no bidding on it. Allocation is at the issuer's discretion, capped by rating: not exceeding 30 per cent of base size for AAA, AA+, AA and AA-; 40 per cent for A+ to A-; and 50 per cent for others. Anchor investors confirm electronically by T-1, and any amount not confirmed is added back to the base issue size. Before the 16 May 2025 substitution the cap was a flat 30 per cent regardless of rating. The rating scale itself is explained in what is a credit rating, and the equity market's version of the same idea in what is an anchor investor.

Failure to pay in carries a standing penalty: an allottee or anchor investor that defaults is debarred from bidding across all EBPs for 30 days, and an arranger whose clients default three times across all EBPs is debarred for seven days. An issuer that withdraws an issue is locked out for seven days, unless the withdrawal was because the base issue was undersubscribed, a bidder defaulted, or the cut-off yield came in above the estimated cut-off yield the issuer had disclosed.

What data does the EBP publish?

This is the part worth knowing if you follow primary issuance rather than participate in it. Under clause 12.2 as substituted on 16 May 2025, applicable three months from that date, EBPs must publish a named field list, by end of the bidding day for issues closing up to 1 PM and by 1 PM the next day for the rest. The list runs to roughly thirty fields including bidding and allotment date, issuer name, ISIN, credit rating, base issue size, green shoe, amount raised, coupon and frequency, yield, spread, maturity and tenor, secured or unsecured, manner of allotment and settlement, links to the offer document and term sheet, number of successful bidders and investor categories, anchor amount and number of anchor investors, total QIB and non-QIB bidding with amounts accepted, and the cut-off and weighted average cut-off yield. Before that substitution the clause said only that "all details regarding the issuance" be updated on the website.

Each EBP platform is subject to audit by a CISA at least once a year, and EBPs are required to standardise their operational procedure across platforms and publish it.

The Electronic Book Provider platform is the primary-market half of India's listed debt plumbing; the secondary-market half is covered in what is the RFQ platform, and the two are compared in EBP vs RFQ platform. Flock reports public regulatory filings with every claim sourced and dated. What any of it means for your money is your call to make.