India plans Rs 24,000 crore sovereign green bond issue

India will issue sovereign green bonds worth at least Rs 24,000 crore ($3.3 billion) as the country marks a shift towards a low-carbon economy, reported Bloomberg citing officials with knowledge of the matter.

The initial sale could start in the first half of the fiscal year starting April 1, and the decision to sell more green debt will be based on the response to the initial issuance, the official said, requesting anonymity as the information is private.

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Bloomberg reported that a finance ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for a reaction.

“If there’s a fitment to the investor portfolio with a good risk-return trade-off then we will look at sovereign green bonds in every possible avenue,” said Chintan Haria, head of products and strategy at ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co, India’s third-largest asset manager.

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India’s debut in the green bond space comes as it plans to fund renewable energy projects that will help reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2070. In Budget 2022-23, the government had announced a sovereign green bond.

The government expects lower yields on green bonds, as otherwise, it sees little purpose in issuing them, the officials said. The yield on the 10-year sovereign bond settled at 6.85% on Monday.

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A bond with a lower yield might be more attractive to foreign investors since they have a greater appetite for this type of bond, noted Lakshmi Iyer, chief investment officer for fixed income at Kotak Asset Management Co.

The planned issuance comes amid a global boom in sustainable investments. India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world and plans to quadruple its renewable energy production capacity by 2030.

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Bloomberg data shows Indian renewable energy companies raised Rs 1,760 billion rupees in debt in February, the most in nearly a year.

So far, 27 countries have issued sovereign green bonds for projects related to climate change and mobilised cumulative capital of $194 billion since the first issuance in December 2016.

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In terms of total capital raised, France remains the largest sovereign issuer with a total capital raise of $51 billion. Germany has raised $27 billion and the United Kingdom has raised $21.6 billion. These bonds were oversubscribed by 8-12 times, a sign of huge demand among investors.