Budget likely to feature sovereign green bonds

The Union budget may propose to issue sovereign green bonds worth at least ₹20,000 crore as part of the borrowing programme for fiscal year 2025 (FY25), two people aware of the matter said.

- Rhik Kundu & Subhash Narayan

A large chunk of these bonds may be sold in the second half of the next fiscal year, one of the two people said.

Green bonds address the funding requirements for projects in solar, wind and hydropower sectors. With several financially viable projects in the public sector in the pipeline, policymakers feel that funds raised through this route will be easily utilized.

The Union budget for FY24 did not mention sovereign green bonds. However, the government later included a phased ₹20,000 crore green bond plan for the second half of the borrowing calendar. Of this, bonds of ₹5,000 crore with a tenure of five years were sold in November 2023, and ₹10,000 crore worth of bonds with a tenure of 30 years in two tranches of 35,000 crore each are expected across January and February 2024; bonds worth another 15,000 crore are expected by March.

A spokesperson for the finance ministry did not respond to emailed queries.