Recently, Kerala became the first state to tap into masala bond market by listing the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)’s masala bond worth of USD 312 million (Rs 2,150 crore) in London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s International Securities Market (ISM). The masala bond has a tenor of 5-year and a 9.723% coupon. This was the brainchild of Kerala’s state finance minister Thomas Issac. The objective of this initiative was to tap masala bond market and to rebuild the infrastructure in Kerala from the proceeds of the masala bond.