Indore plans India's first retail municipal green bond for solar plant

Indore is planning to issue the nation’s first local government bond targeting individual investors, with proceeds used to fund a solar power project. Indore Municipal Corp. seeks to raise as much as Rs 2.60 billion ($31.8 million) via a 10-year bond sale next month, according to Divyank Singh, CEO of Indore Smart City, who is working with various stakeholders to finalise the offering. The offering from Indore, which is in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, is also set to be the country’s maiden municipal green bond designed for retail investors. The issuer has mandated A K Capital Services and SBI Capital Markets as lead managers of the offering, Singh said. The 60 MW solar plant will be built near Indore at a cost of Rs 3 billion, Singh said, adding that it will help the city save an electricity bill of as much as Rs 250 million a month. The green debt sale is occurring at a time when the World Bank has estimated that Asia’s third-largest economy will need to invest $840 billion over the next 15 years on urban infrastructure to meet demand from a fast-growing urban population. Also Read Indore, Kohima, Warangal win global ‘play city’ awards UP team visits Indore to study solid waste management