At the time of introduction, only top rated corporates with tangible net worth of not less than Rs. 10 crore were allowed to issue CP with maturity between 3-6 months from the date of issue.
Further, issuance of the CP had to be carved out of the working capital (fund based) limit and it was also stipulated that CP could be issued in multiples of Rs. 25 lakh and the amount to be invested by a single investor should not be less than Rs 1 crore. These guidelines had been reviewed from time to time.