Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1126

Chapter 1126: Treasury bill, Sovereign wealth fund

The construction of the Metro began exactly two years ago. Normally, a project of this scale would have taken four to five years to complete, but Vijay’s decision to reinvest in the project for the third time completely changed the pace. His funding allowed construction to proceed simultaneously from all four ends of the route, drastically shortening the timeline.

Now, the Metro was only a few months away from opening. The trial runs had already started, and the custom-built locomotive, designed specifically for the capital by Gaur Locomotives, was running smoothly along the tracks, testing every section of the line before the final launch.

But Vijay did not have the time to worry about any of this. He had far more important matters demanding his attention. The rebuilding of the city had already begun, and it was being carried out in a systematic, step-by-step manner. At the moment, one of the major roads had been closed, and all traffic was being diverted through a longer route along the outskirts of the city.

The workers had started breaking up the old cement road, clearing it section by section. Meanwhile, a large quarry site had been set up where roughly carved stones arrived directly by train. These stones were then cut into puzzle-like shapes, each piece designed to interlock perfectly with the next. Once completed, they would be laid down to create the new rock-paved road.

Several workshops of famous sculptors across the empire had also been constructed, with them being busy with the sculpting.

The other thing which occupied his mind was the distribution of currency; the 33 billion, which he had given to the Reserve Bank, had begun to be allocated to various ministries of the Central Government, and from the Central Government, it began to be put to work throughout the empire. Large-scale infrastructure projects worth 19 to 20 billion have started in Tibet, Balochistan, and Pashtun Pradesh, attracting almost all the major construction companies throughout the empire, and even international construction companies founded by various kings and highly influential people.

All the while, the Reserve Bank lent a lot of money to the local banks, with extremely low interest rates, for them to use it in order to provide small personal loans and insurance for whatever purpose to the general public. The expansion of the industry, driven by nearly five billion Varaha of the empire’s finances, has only become more urgent, with land prices in special economic zones soaring to new heights.

Along with all this, the Ramachandra Class Battleship is also being constructed at a rapid pace, with the new generation of weapon systems undergoing testing the very moment.

Thankfully, despite the large number of things he had to pay attention to, he was not too tired, since he had already handed over all those responsibilities to Agni.

Vijay, on the other hand, came to the Mangaluru Stock Exchange.

4th September 1694

MSE Square, Financial Capital of Vijayanagara-Mangaluru, Akhand Bharatiya Empire

Vijay got down from his luxurious car, Raya Imperial R2, a new generation of premium edition cars from Raya Mobility, his own company, powered by the latest 5th generation Bhalwaan compact series steam engines.

Looking at the sleek black car with a dark metallic finish, the logo of the Shanku and Chakra, the emblem of the Devaraya family, as well as the saffron flag with the Ashoka Chakra flowing through the wind at the bonnet, the onlookers were surprised and exclaimed in awe.

Vijay walked through the red carpet with a smile as he waved at the traders, media personnel, and people in the financial sector with a smile.

“Your majesty, a few questions, please.”

“Your majesty, what inspired you to invent the new financial instruments?”

“Your majesty, please…”

The media personnel were hawking at him, but he turned a deaf ear and resolutely went into the stock exchange building and met up with the board of directors, along with the chairman.

“Is everything prepared?” Vijay asked as he sat down at the main seat without any hesitation.

Goodwin Chatterjee, the current chairman of the board of directors, nodded cautiously and answered, “We are, Your Majesty. We are ready to absorb 5 billion varaha for 15% interest in the form of Treasury bills for 1 year, and up to 10 billion varaha for 10% interest, regional and international capital, for the Sovereign Wealth Fund for 5 years.”

Vijay did some calculations in his mind to determine whether the Reserve Bank can handle it. And sure enough, it wasn’t a big problem, especially since the bank has yet to spend the other half of the newly printed currency.

The only factor that made Vijay somewhat cautious was the interest rates. Fifteen and ten percent were a bit high. Typically, government-backed bonds are considered very stable investments, and their interest rates are usually slightly lower than what banks offer. Here, however, it was the opposite. Still, after thinking it over carefully, he did not see it as a major problem. To encourage investment, some benefits for the investors were necessary.

Moreover, with the GDP growing at an average of 22 to 23% per year, repaying the principal along with the interest would not be an issue, especially since both bonds were short-term, one-year and five-year instruments. Once these bonds matured, the interest rates could be returned to normal, at which point a much larger pool of investors would be willing to participate.

Thinking about another question, he looked at Goodwin Chatterjee, a 37-year-old Bharatiya Jew, and asked, “How are both the bonds priced?”

“As informed by the Reserve Bank, they are looking to make the bonds as widespread as possible. Hence, the Treasury Bond is priced at 500 varaha, and the Sovereign Bond, which will go into the Sovereign Fund, is priced at 1,000 varaha,” Goodwin Chatterjee responded immediately.

Vijay immediately did some calculations in his mind, “So you have 20 million bonds in your hand?”

“Precisely, Your Majesty.”

“In that case, let’s hit the coconut and start the sale.”

The next moment, a small ritual was held, and all the booths in front of the stock exchange rotated the boards and opened the sale of the Treasury bill and the sovereign bill.

Investors, dying to purchase the bonds, eagerly approached the booths with money in hand.

“Four Treasury Bills, please.”

“Identification, please.”

“Here it is.”

“Three Treasury Bills, please. And here is my ID.”

The sale officially began, with retail traders initiating the purchasing activity. Transactions opened and closed as if it were a breakfast stall selling idlis, payments were made with one hand, while the corresponding documents were received with the other. The only verification required was the government-issued Investor ID, a new form of identification designed to quicken transactions at the Stock Exchange.

Before long, long queues had formed, and activity at all booths increased significantly.

While Vijay observed the process of the sale of the bonds to the retail investors, the situation behind him was extremely chaotic. He could hear the stock market staff behind him hurriedly processing the larger trades placed by investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, and other major domestic and international institutions.

“Bank of Ahom International will subscribe to 20,000 sovereign bills.”

“Reshmi Vardhan royal family subscribes to 6,000 sovereign bills.”

“Parivartanpura royal family will subscribe to 4,000 sovereign bills.”

“Hima Investment Bank will subscribe to 5,000 Treasury bills and 8,000 sovereign bills.”

“Vidyanagari royal family subscribes to 4,000 sovereign bills.”

“King Ibrahim Hassan subscribes to 4,000 sovereign bills.”

“Malaya Pradesha royal family subscribes to 16,000 sovereign bills.”

“Bharathiya Southern United Bank will subscribe to 43,000 Treasury bills and 28,000 sovereign bills.”

“Bali Devarapura royal family subscribes to 8,000 sovereign bills.”

“The Atashban royal family subscribe to 12,000 sovereign bills.”

“The Toungoo dynasty subscribes to 19,000 sovereign bills.”

“Marco Investment Banking will subscribe to 16,000 Treasury bills and 21,000 sovereign bills.”

“Brown Logistics subscribes to 8,000 Treasury bills.”

“Bakshi Investments will subscribe to 5,000 Treasury bills and 15,000 sovereign bills.”

“Chenla kingdom Norodom dynasty subscribes to 14,000 sovereign bills.”

“Emperor Takehito subscribes to 7,900 sovereign bills.”

“Ayutthaya kingdom Sukhothai dynasty subscribes to 7,000 sovereign bills.”

“Singhania International Company subscribes to 9,000 sovereign bills.”

“Thirumala Tirupati Devasthanam trust subscribes to 4,000 Treasury bills.”

The staff were feeling overwhelmed with the number of orders coming through from so many brokers in a short span of time. Thankfully, this situation had already been expected, so the staffing had been increased, and there were people ready on standby waiting to switch at a moment’s notice.

Only calculating what Vijay heard so far, an investment of 250 million has already been absorbed, with the trade only starting barely two hours ago, and if things go like this, in a matter of a month, the entire 20 million bonds will be sold.

The sale of the bonds was a huge success, and Vijay was already planning what to do with the money.

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