 "NTPC raises $300 mn with Green Masala Bond")
State-owned energy major National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) raised $300 million (Rs 2,000 crores) with a 7.48 per cent annual yield with the launch of its 'Green Masala Bond' on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Thursday.
NTPC's bond issue was described as the first-ever Indian quasi-sovereign to issue a Masala Bond. The proceeds from it will be invested in the renewable energy market as it seeks to add more wind and solar power projects to its portfolio.
"NTPC's landmark independently certified green Masala bond listing, the first Masala bond by an Indian quasi-sovereign issuer, represents another historic event for Indian finance," said Nikhil Rathi, chief executive officer of LSE plc and director of International Development at the LSE Group.
"We are honoured to have been chosen to support NTPC access rupee-based financing in London's international capital markets, reinforcing India's ambitions to generate 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022," he said.
"LSE has in recent weeks hosted landmark Indian issuances by Axis Bank and HDFC and today we are delighted to host the world's first independently certified green Masala bond by NTPC, he added.
"This cements London's position as the listing venue of choice for a variety of Asian issuers, from quasi-sovereign to supranational institutions, municipals and private companies. We are excited about continuing to build this market with Indian partners and authorities over the long-term, underlying the success of the India-UK Financial Partnership," he said.
The listing follows the visit of the Indian Power Minister Piyush Goyal to the UK earlier this year to strengthen the UK-India collaboration on power and renewable energy.
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It also builds on the announcements made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to list $1 billion equivalent of Masala bonds in the UK, made during his visit here in November, 2015.
Masala bonds are rupee-denominated bonds issued to overseas buyers.
As many as 30 offshore Indian rupee bonds have listed in total on the LSE, raising equivalent to approximately $3.5 billion, according to one of the world's leading stock exchanges.