India’s goal on renewables to boost green bond sales overseas

Mumbai: India’s goal to more than double energy generation from renewable sources is fuelling bets that debt offerings from green companies may grow.

Adani Green Energy Ltd kicked off a roadshow for a potential dollar bond as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the more ambitious plans. Indian alternative-energy firms have sold about $3.4 billion of foreign-currency notes in 2019, after none last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

There is a dearth of Indian dollar green bonds and demand is rising for such notes, said A.S. Thiyaga Rajan, a senior managing director in Singapore at Aquarius Investment Advisors Pte.

Green issuers are supported by rising global appetite for Indian notes, which offer attractive yield. Foreign-currency note sales from the nation’s borrowers rose to a record $18.5 billion so far this year, and renewable companies Greenko Energy Holdings and ReNew Power Ltd have already tapped the market more than once.