PCMC's 200 crore green municipal bonds listed on BSE; CM and deputies attend ceremony in Mumbai

Time of India

2 days ago

Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Tuesday listed its Rs200 crore green municipal bonds on the Bombay Stock Exchange (
) in Mumbai.
The listing ceremony was attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and state chief secretary Sujata Saunik.
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PCMC has become the first civic body in Maharashtra to raise funds through green municipal bonds, and it is also the first municipal corporation in the country to issue green bonds exclusively for a sustainable mobility project.
The funds raised through these bonds will be utilised for the 'Harit Setu' project in Nigdi Pradhikaran and for the sustainable mobility development project from Gawlimatha to Indrayani Nagar Chowk on Telco Road.
Both promote non-motorised transport and sustainable development.
Speaking at the event, Fadnavis stated that there was a very good response to the green bonds, and they were subscribed within a few minutes. "The strong investor response is a testament to the trust placed in Maharashtra govt and PCMC's governance," he said. He added that the infrastructure built using funds raised through these bonds will help boost sustainability in Pimpri Chinchwad.
Last week, the bonds were floated via private placement on the BSE's Electronic Bidding Platform and attracted bids worth Rs513 Crore, oversubscribing the offer by 5.13 times. The bonds were issued at a coupon rate of 7.85% for a period of five years.
PCMC commissioner Shekhar Singh said the decision to raise funds through green bonds was taken after past experience when the civic body raised Rs100 Crore through municipal bonds.
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"For some projects, the funding available from budgeting stretches up to five to six years due to limited resources with the civic body. We were thinking of ways to expedite our projects, and one such option was to have funds available for a two or three-year timeframe.
That is where the idea of green bonds came up," he said.
He said there has been increasing stress on financial resources that municipal corporations can allocate for different projects, and municipal bonds provide one such option where the civic bodies can leverage their financial strength.
Singh said the Harit Setu project is a master plan for the city for the next 10-12 years, and it is a recognition of the fact that traffic congestion is not just about widening roads. "If we do not think of non-motorised or public transport options, I do not think we will be solving the traffic congestion," he said.
The project has already won the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycle Infrastructure in 2023, and the civic body has also received a grant of USD 400 from the FICCI challenge for it.
Pimpri Chinchwad was the only city from India and was among the nine global cities that won the FICCI award.
Singh said that the corporation has also applied for a 25% grant for the Harit Setu project under the Urban Challenge Fund, a Central govt initiative introduced in this year's Union Budget. PCMC is set to become the first municipal body in the country to avail this assistance, having fulfilled the eligibility condition of raising over 50% of the total project cost through instruments like green bonds, he said.
Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Tuesday listed its Rs200 crore green municipal bonds on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai.
The listing ceremony was attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and state chief secretary Sujata Saunik.
PCMC has become the first civic body in Maharashtra to raise funds through green municipal bonds, and it is also the first municipal corporation in the country to issue green bonds exclusively for a sustainable mobility project.
The funds raised through these bonds will be utilised for the 'Harit Setu' project in Nigdi Pradhikaran and for the sustainable mobility development project from Gawlimatha to Indrayani Nagar Chowk on Telco Road. Both promote non-motorised transport and sustainable development.
Speaking at the event, Fadnavis stated that there was a very good response to the green bonds, and they were subscribed within a few minutes.
"The strong investor response is a testament to the trust placed in Maharashtra govt and PCMC's governance," he said. He added that the infrastructure built using funds raised through these bonds will help boost sustainability in Pimpri Chinchwad.
Last week, the bonds were floated via private placement on the BSE's Electronic Bidding Platform and attracted bids worth Rs513 Crore, oversubscribing the offer by 5.13 times.
The bonds were issued at a coupon rate of 7.85% for a period of five years.
PCMC commissioner Shekhar Singh said the decision to raise funds through green bonds was taken after past experience when the civic body raised Rs100 Crore through municipal bonds. "For some projects, the funding available from budgeting stretches up to five to six years due to limited resources with the civic body. We were thinking of ways to expedite our projects, and one such option was to have funds available for a two or three-year timeframe.
That is where the idea of green bonds came up," he said.
He said there has been increasing stress on financial resources that municipal corporations can allocate for different projects, and municipal bonds provide one such option where the civic bodies can leverage their financial strength.
Singh said the Harit Setu project is a master plan for the city for the next 10-12 years, and it is a recognition of the fact that traffic congestion is not just about widening roads.
"If we do not think of non-motorised or public transport options, I do not think we will be solving the traffic congestion," he said.
The project has already won the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycle Infrastructure in 2023, and the civic body has also received a grant of USD 400 from the FICCI challenge for it.
Pimpri Chinchwad was the only city from India and was among the nine global cities that won the FICCI award.
Singh said that the corporation has also applied for a 25% grant for the Harit Setu project under the Urban Challenge Fund, a Central govt initiative introduced in this year's Union Budget. PCMC is set to become the first municipal body in the country to avail this assistance, having fulfilled the eligibility condition of raising over 50% of the total project cost through instruments like green bonds, he said.