REC issues green bonds worth record 61 billion Japanese Yen in global market

NEW DELHI: Maharatna public sector company REC Limited has successfully issued green bonds worth 61.1 billion Japanese Yen which is the largest ever Yen-denominated issue from India, according to an official statement released on Tuesday.

The 5-year, 5.25-year and 10-year bonds have been issued at yields of 1.76 per cent, 1.79 per cent and 2.20 per cent respectively under REC’s USD 10 billion Global Medium Term Notes Programme.

The transaction witnessed interest from both Japanese and international accounts, with the number of orders from each at 50 per cent, international allocation being one of the highest for any other Indian Yen deal, the statement said.

Proceeds from the bonds will be applied to finance the eligible green projects in accordance with the company’s green finance framework, RBI’s external commercial borrowings guidelines and the approvals granted by it from time to time.

The transaction is also the largest non-sovereign Yen-denominated issuance ever from South and South East Asia.

Chairman & Managing Director, REC Limited, Vivek Kumar Dewangan said: “We are delighted to successfully price our inaugural Euro-Yen Green bonds, which reaffirms REC’s position as an established issuer with deep access to global funding, while maintaining the overall cost of funding lower than the industry standards.”

The notes will be rated Baa3/BBB–/BBB+ (Moody's/Fitch/JCR) and will be listed exclusively on Global Securities Market of India International Exchange (India INX) and NSE IFSC in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. DBS Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC Nikko are the joint lead managers for the issue.

REC is a Maharatna company under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power and is registered with RBI as Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC), Public Financial Institution (PFI) and Infrastructure Financing Company (IFC).