EESL raises Rs 500 crore via bonds in domestic market

To fund energy efficiency projects in India, the Energy Efficiancy Service (EESL) today, made its first issuance of domestic bonds in the domestic market.

Domestic bonds worth Rs 500 crore were issued to investors on a private placement basis at a coupon rate of 8.07% per annum. Maturity of these bonds are in the range from 3.5 to 7 years on STRPP basis.

The issuance has been fully subscribed by investors, show-casing likeness towards the energy efficiency business.

Going forward, these bonds are expected to be listed in WDM segment of the BSE exchange.

Rating agencies such as ICRA and CARE have rated these bonds as 'AA'.

Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL said, “Our requirements from the markets is quite high; however, we are confident of a great response from investors looking at our unique model.”

Such access to Indian bond markets will support EESL to channelize more investments in the energy efficiency market. For FY 2016-17, the capex requirement of EESL is Rs.3500 crore. Aiding this requirement, these corporate bonds will be the first of many tranches.

Further, the company also looks forward to introduce Green Masala Bonds worth USD 100 million (approx. Rs.700 crore) in November. The company has also tied up funding from multi-lateral agencies like KFW, AFD and ADB for funding its energy efficient projects.

During the time of issuance, Trust Investment Advisors was the sole arranger of the issue.

EESL also aims to unlock the energy efficiency (EE) and demand side management (DSM) market valued at Rs. 1.5 Lakh crore, and implement large-scale EE projects.