IREDA may float FPO this FY

New Delhi: Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Ltd may go in for a follow-on public offer (FPO) this financial year, its chairman, Pradip Kumar Das, said on Tuesday.

The state-owned non-banking financial company (NBFC), which listed on the bourses in November 2023, will need more equity capital, he said, without indicating the estimated amount to be raised through the FPO. "Maybe this year we have to have an FPO. Our requirement is in this fiscal," Das said.

However, since the FPO will need government approval and to avoid long holiday months, it might materialise in the first half of 2025-26, he said.


Separately, in March, the lender's board had approved a proposal of Rs 24,200-crore borrowing for 2024-25. The amount will be raised through taxable bonds, green taxable bonds, perpetual debt instruments, green masala bonds, green foreign currency bonds and external commercial borrowings, among others.

Das emphasised the need for a defined green taxonomy in the country which could encourage interest in green bonds, and for corporate governance culture to be encouraged for it to be accounted for while lending and borrowing.

GIFT IFSC
The lender plans to start operations through its subsidiary IREDA Global Green Energy Finance IFSC Ltd in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City, Gujarat this fiscal. "Initially, we are going to largely focus on our existing customers with whom we have a two to two and a half decades of mature banking relationship," Das said.

GIFT City operations would initially involve mostly solar modules manufacturing projects and green hydrogen and its derivatives. Green hydrogen and its derivatives have a tremendous potential for exports, he said.