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The Times of India
Investments in clean technologies are riding a green wave into India. In 2007, Green India Inc raised $1.4 billion through convertible bonds from the international market even as it picked up $628 million from the domestic stock market.

Indian companies are at the forefront of a trend in global investments in clean technologies like wind and solar power — an increasing drift of money from the developed countries towards developing economies of India, China and Brazil. The United Nations Environment Programme has revealed this in a recent report ‘Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investments’.

2007 was a breakthrough year for the Indian green energy corporates — they had never before garnered money from the global market through bonds — a fiscal device that provides medium-level security to investors. Convertible bonds appeal to investors in unsteady markets, as they provide a fixed return with capital appreciation.

While the bond market might have been a new venture for Indian companies, consummate in the well-established wind-energy market in the country, India attracted $2.5 billion for asset finance, up almost four times from the $671 million it had picked up in 2006. As a consequence, the country’s wind power capacity grew by 1.7 giga watt in 2007.

Suzlon might have hit a snag with its new exports this year but the potential of the market continues to expand. Venture capital funds and private equity placements hit $265 million, slightly higher than the $236 million that Indian companies had attracted in 2006.

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