Yes Bank to raise Rs 500 cr for green energy projects

Private sector lender Yes Bank today said it will be raising Rs 500 crore through issuance of "green infrastructure bonds", which will be deployed to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

The bank claimed it is the first such issue in the country and the money will be used to fund solar power, wind power, biomass, and small hydel projects.

The bond will have a tenor of ten years, it said in a statement, adding the issue has already been launched.

The city-headquartered lender said it had made a commitment to fund 5,000 MW of renewable energy projects during the recent summit organised by the Government and added the proceeds from the issue will be used to fund the same.

In FY15, the bank has raised $1.2 billion through various transactions, including $500 million funding in May 2014, $422 million syndicated loan in October and $200 million loan from Asian Development Bank in December.

It said globally, a sum of $35 billion were raised by issuing such green bonds in 2014, while the market in the country is either non-existent or nascent.

Given the long term gestation of such projects, the bonds are useful in taking care of any potential asset liability mismatches, it said.

Yes Bank