India's first-ever green bond auction gets better-than-expected yield

The five-year bond was sold at a cut-off yield of 7.10% versus 7.13% estimate

India’s maiden sovereign green bond issuance fetched a better-than-expected yield as the government takes baby steps to raise funds for its transition to cleaner energy at affordable rates. 

The government sold 80 billion rupees ($1 billion) of securities, including 40 billion rupees each of 10-year and 5-year notes, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement on Wednesday. The 10-year bond got priced at a coupon of 7.29%, six basis points lower than the similar maturity sovereign debt, and compared with 7.31% estimate in a Bloomberg survey. 

The yield differential versus conventional bonds reflects investors’ interest in financing India’s