Centre ready to test green bond market with debut $2 billion sale

India is putting its first sovereign green bond on the radar of some of its biggest domestic asset managers, including state-run insurers and pension funds as well as foreign investors

India is testing the waters of a sluggish global green bond market with its debut sale this month that aims to raise $2 billion for sustainable projects.
 

Indian officials have been clear they want a significant “greenium” for the sale to lower the nation’s borrowing costs, and that will require attracting enough foreign investors to the rupee-denominated debt.

Green bond sales dropped for the first time in a decade last year, as monetary policy tightening hit issuance, and as asset managers came under fire for alleged greenwashing. Companies and governments worldwide raised a total of $863 billion in green, social and