SREI, the infrastructure finance company, conducted its third round of interest rate auctions in New Delhi on Friday. In this one of kind reverse auction, bidders could bid for lower interest rates to finance infrastructure equipment to cash in financing opportunities at a time when interest rates are peaking.

With 2000 customers and 500 bidders, the reverse auction of interest rates clocked in a business of Rs 375 crore.

Most products were auctioned in the range of 11-13 per cent interest rate and some even at zero percent financing giving bidders much lower choices compared to the market rate of 15 per cent.

"I had bid for 11 products and the rate of interest was around 11 per cent and that's a fantastic rate as on today's market," said Nikhil Gupta, a bidder.

Bidders could lock in their desired interest rate for upto 3 years and thereafter could finance with one percent increase per year.

But besides this offer just for Delhi, SREI carried out a special financing scheme of zero per cent funding for one year to woo the price sensitive Delhi bidders.

"Now they need not lock in for 3 years higher rate interest, as they could take at zero per cent interest rate for one year. Suppose the market rate today is 15 per cent and it comes down to 11 per cent so that time they can go to the market and source the money," said KK Mohanty, Executive Director, SREI.

"After Delhi SREI will be conduction auction rounds in 9 more cities in India and by next year, the company plans to take the auction concept to countries abroad like Russia, Dubai and Paris with international partners in infrastructure financing space.