Partly Paid Rights Issue

A partly paid rights issue is a capital raising mechanism in which a listed company offers new shares to its existing shareholders at a discount to the market price, but requires payment in instalments rather than in full at the time of subscription. The shareholder pays only a portion of the issue price upfront (the first call) to receive the partly paid shares, with the remaining amount due in subsequent calls at predetermined future dates. Partly paid shares are listed and traded separately on the exchange at a price reflecting the partial payment made and the rights to the remaining shares — providing existing shareholders with liquidity even before the full payment is made. In India, SEBI's regulations permit companies to structure rights issues as partly paid instruments. The most notable recent example was Reliance Industries' ₹53,125 crore rights issue in 2020, structured as partly paid shares with the face value payable in three instalments — making it more accessible for retail shareholders who might not have the full capital available immediately.