
Green financing in post-pandemic India takes precedence as players like ReNew Power, Adani and SBI look to explore new opportunities
Ahmedabad, November 5: A new form of financing has taken over in the post-pandemic world. Green financing has become the ‘next big thing’, attracting the attention of investors across the globe. The temporary disruption of the economy has revamped its outlook as terms like sustainability become more prevalent.
Data from the Economic Survey 2019-20 revealed India to be the second-largest emerging green market. Transactions worth $10.3 billion were recorded in the first half of 2019 alone, highlighting the fast pace at which companies are taking to green investment. This is evident in the way heavyweights like Reliance, Tata, Adani, SBI, ReNew Energy, etc., are adopting green financing as part of their business practices. The ensuing paradigm shift is expected to open new opportunities worth $3.1 trillion to investors and companies alike.
Green financing is not new to India. Numerous green bonds and similar fund raising strategies have been employed by both companies and banks in the past. The historic importance of banks in India’s economic growth has, however, put the onus on them to increase their contributions towards the country’s sustainable growth. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India (SBI), said that the banking sector needs to accelerate green lending. Emphasizing the need to sensitize India’s financial sector to the importance and benefits of green finance, Khara pushed for a formal definition of green finance which would help design effective policy regulations for the green sectors.
Green bonds have become a firm favourite for entities looking to finance their renewable projects and garnered a lot of traction in the recent past. ReNew Power, Adani, SBI, IDBI, Axis Bank and many more players have already issued green bonds worth millions. Adani, for example, raised a whopping USD750 million to finance the construction of its renewables projects. With over 11GW in its pipeline, Adani is one of the leading renewables company in India. The company has already overhauled its set target of 25GW renewables capacity this year even as it aims to become the world’s largest renewables company by 2030.
SBI was also one the many Indian banks that offered green bonds. It listed green bonds worth $100 million on India INX’s Global Securities Market Green Platform in April this year, having already listed its maiden green bond issuance of $650 million on the same platform earlier. Green bonds issued by financial institutions provide a valuable addition to the ones issued by companies like Adani. Loans are another way SBI is approaching the subject of green finance. The lender has already adopted new policies that will ensure borrowers are keeping up with the latest ESG practices. For example, loans exceeding Rs.50 crores would be issued to a borrower only after an evaluation on the basis of various ESG parameters.
Although the sudden thrust towards green financing is a huge positive, it is not without its own challenges. Studies show that while assets under ESG funds have grown by 27 per cent in Q1 2020, a massive funding gap still exists. Bridging this gap will be paramount to unlocking new avenues for growth. What remains to be seen is if stakeholders like Adani and SBI are willing to go all out and accelerate India’s transition to a truly green economy.
Just desire to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is just spectacular and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.
Some genuinely nice and useful info on this website, too I conceive the style and design holds wonderful features.
I like this weblog very much so much great information.
What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I am hoping to give a contribution & aid different customers like its aided me. Good job.
Wow! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Great choice of colors!
This is a topic close to my heart cheers, where are your contact details though?
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue along with your web site in web explorer, would test this?K IE nonetheless is the market leader and a large portion of other people will omit your wonderful writing due to this problem.
F*ckin’ awesome things here. I’m very glad to look your post. Thanks so much and i am taking a look ahead to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
Regards for this post, I am a big big fan of this internet site would like to keep updated.
You can certainly see your skills in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this brilliant blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Chat soon!
Thanks so much the help.
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your website is so cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched all over the place and just couldn’t come across. What a perfect site.
I enjoy the efforts you have put in this, thanks for all the great posts.
Nice weblog right here! Additionally your website loads up fast! What web host are you the use of? Can I am getting your affiliate hyperlink to your host? I desire my web site loaded up as fast as yours lol
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say excellent blog!
I like what you guys are up too. Such clever work and reporting! Carry on the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my site :).
Hi! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!
Hi there, I found your website via Google while searching for a related topic, your web site came up, it looks great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
I’ve been browsing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.