India's Power Fin Corp lists its first green bond on LSE in two decades

India's Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has listed its first international bond in almost two decades on the London Stock Exchange to fund renewable energy projects in the country.

The 10-year dated green bond raised $400 million, paying a 3.75 per cent semi-annual coupon and listed on London Stock Exchange's new International Securities Market (ISM) this week.

"The funds raised will help promote renewable energy projects across the country and aid in achieving the government's target of 175GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022," said PFC chairman Rajeev Sharma.

"The bond issuance allows PFC to access a new offshore investor base and also diversify its funding sources," he said.

The state-owned PFC said that projects eligible for the funds will be identified within its Green Bond Framework, which was drafted in accordance with the Green Bond Principles, a global set of guidelines framing the issuance of green bonds.

The latest Climate Bonds Initiative certified bond is the seventh green bond listed on London Stock Exchange in November 2017, and the fifth green bond by an Indian issuer in London. "PFC is unlocking and promoting green finance across India, enabling the country to achieve its ambitious climate change targets set out under the COP21 agreement," said Nikhil Rathi, CEO of London Stock Exchange Plc.

"London Stock Exchange is a recognised world leader in green, sustainable and debt financing, highlighted by this years exceptional green fixed income activity. London supports issuers from Abu Dhabi to China, Finland to India in accessing international investment capital," he said.

He added that there has been an "undeniable shift" in momentum in green and sustainable financing across the world which has triggered a "green funding revolution".

According to the LSE, green bonds in London have raised over $3.2 billion in November 2017 alone.

In total, there are 59 green bonds listed in London that have raised over $19.5 billion in aggregate terms across seven currencies.

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said it has been supporting investors and issuers in the transition to a low- carbon and sustainable economy for over a decade, developing innovative products and services in close collaboration with the market.

"The comprehensive sustainable finance offering is focused on green financing for issuers (both debt and equity), indexing and analytics," LSEG said.

LSEG had joined the UN's Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative as a Partner Exchange in 2014 and has also signed The Paris Pledge for Action.

One of the leading lenders to the power sector, the PFC is an infrastructure finance company engaged in providing financial assistance to state power utilities for meeting the financing and development requirements of the power sector.