Yes Bank Raises Rs 1,000 Crore via Infra Bonds

Mumbai: Yes Bank on Wednesday raised Rs 1,000 crore against a targeted Rs 500 crore by issuing green infrastructure bonds.

The bonds are of a 10-year tenor and the money raised will be used for funding renewable energy projects in solar, wind, biomass and small hydroelectric plants, the bank said in a statement here.

The private sector lender, which had set out with a target to raise Rs 500 crore, saw demand from insurance companies, pension and provident funds, foreign portfolio investors and mutual funds, which resulted in the greenshoe option being utilised.

Yes Bank managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor said that this is the first green infrastructure bond issue in India. He also expressed satisfaction at the response. The statement, however, did not offer any details on the pricing of the issue.

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 2014-15, India's fourth largest private bank raised $1.2 billion through various transactions, including $500 million funding last May, a $422-million syndicated loan in October and a $200-million loan from the Asian Development Bank in December.

It said globally, $35 billion was raised in green bonds in 2014, while the Indian market for this offering is either non-existent or in nascent stage.

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

Shares in Yes Bank, on Wednesday, ended at Rs 794.85 apiece on the BSE, down 0.65 per cent from the previous close.