Azure Power Solar Energy Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Azure Power Global Limited has announced that it will issue a green bond offering of $350 million (~₹25 billion). The bond will mature in 2024 with an expected US Dollar coupon of 5.65%.

According to the press statement, the green bond has been certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative and is the second solar green bond to be offered by the company.

Azure Power is expected to use the proceeds to refinance the existing debt.

The bond will be offered to eligible yield investors who have a specific mandate or portfolio for buying green bonds.  “The bond has not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold within the United States…,” the company said.

Elaborating on this, the company spokesperson told Mercom, “The bond has been sold in the U.S. but only to qualified investors under the SEC rules. There are many aspects to what a qualified investor is but if I were to provide a simple explanation, a professional investor such as a money manager for a $100 million (~₹ 7.2 billion) or larger fund would be considered qualified.”

Regarding the geographical distribution, he said, “47% of the bond was bought by investors in Asia, 33% in the U.S, and 21% in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). In addition, there was $1.65 billion (~₹118 billion) of demand for the $350 million (~₹25.1 billion) offering.”

Previously, Mercom reported that India now has its own green bond trading platform. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)’s international arm, India International Exchange (India INX), recently announced its exclusive green listing and trading platform called Global Securities Market (GSM). GSM Green will serve as a platform for fundraising and trading green, social, and sustainable bonds exclusively.

In August 2019, it was reported that Azure Power, generated revenue of ₹3.389 billion (~$49.2 million) for Q1 of FY 2019-20 that ended June 30, 2019. This was a 40% increase over the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The rise in revenue was driven by the commissioning of new projects.