Companies likely to raise about $75 bn through issuance of green bonds in 2016

New Delhi: Companies globally are likely to raise about USD 75 billion through issuance of green bonds in 2016, up from USD 42.4 billion mopped up last year, Moody's Investors Service has said.

It added that global green bond issuance in April-June quarter of 2016 reached a new quarterly high of USD 20.3 billion -- well above the USD 16.9 billion recorded in Q1.

With this, the total green bond issuance in the first six months of the year stood at USD 37.2 billion, up 89 percent from USD 19.7 billion for the first half of 2015.

"The global green bond market is now poised to reach USD 75 billion in total volume for 2016 and so set a new record for the fifth consecutive year, given the strong issuance already observable in the first two weeks of third quarter," Moody's Senior VP Henry Shilling said.

A green bond is like any other bond where a debt instrument is issued by an entity for raising funds from investors.

However what differentiates a green bond from other bonds is that the proceeds of a Green Bond offering are earmarked for use towards financing green projects.

In an earlier report, the US-based agency had said that it expects China and India to be a prominent driver of regional green bond issuance in coming years.

Green bonds will have a significant role to play in India's plans of boosting renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022 from a current level of just 37 gigawatts, it had said.

Green bond issuances by Indian corporates made a cautious start last year but is gaining momentum now.

Yes Bank was the first Indian green bond issuer when it raised Rs 1,000 crore in a local currency transaction in February 2015, and sold a further Rs 315 crore of securities in August 2015 through a private deal.

Export-Import Bank of India issued the first such dollar deal worth USD 500 million from in March 2015.

More recently, Axis Bank raised USD 500 million in June at the London Stock Exchange after it launched India's first internationally-listed certified green bond to finance climate change solutions around the world.

NTPC has been in talks with bankers for its first ever green bond issue while Energy Efficiency Services Ltd., which spearheads India's drive for energy-efficient devices, too is looking at its first overseas bond sale.