The Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised $217 million by issuing offshore Indian rupee-linked five-year bonds. This is ADB’s largest single offshore Indian rupee-linked bond issue.

This is ADB’s third bond issue in the offshore rupee-linked market for 2017, stated an ADB release. The ADB launched the bond in London as an Rs.5 billion (~$77.3 million) transaction which it later increased to Rs.10 billion (~$154.6 million) in New York and closed at Rs.14 billion (~$216.4 million) after accommodating Asian investors. The notes carry a semi-annual coupon of 5.90 percent and matures in December 2022.

Proceeds from the bonds will be mobilized to support ADB’s lending in India. ADB’s increased activity in the rupee capital market is proving catalytic to the institution’s local currency lending program, which has been identified as a strategic growth area in partnership with the Government of India.

HSBC and TD Securities underwrote the bonds. The final order was almost three times the size estimated at launch with 84 percent of the bonds placed with fund managers and 16 percent with banks.

Mercom previously reported that ADB had raised $47 million in Indian Rupee-linked bonds to develop renewable energy projects in India.