The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), on September 06, 2023, issued the NABARD Sustainable Bond Framework.
NABARD since its inception with its vision "Development Bank of the Nation for fostering rural prosperity" has been building an empowered and financially inclusive Rural India by touching every aspect of the rural economy. NABARD's economic, environmental, and social interventions and investments through various programs and schemes strongly align with most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), viz. alleviating poverty, removal of hunger, climate action, gender equality, reducing economic inequality, health, education, infrastructure, economic growth, etc.
This Framework is valid for sustainable bonds which shall be used to finance and/ or refinance, in part or in full, new and/ or existing eligible Green and Social Projects. The Framework describes the proposed usage of proceeds from Sustainable Bonds for being eligible to be considered as financing for Green and Social Projects in a manner consistent with its sustainability goals and values. Further, it aims to ensure transparency through disclosures to the investors in order to aid them in making informed investment decisions. The framework is designed in accordance with the guidelines issued by SEBI and the Sovereign Green Bond Framework issued by Gol.
The framework adheres to the voluntary guidelines prescribed by the Green Bond Principles 2021, the Social Bond Principles 2021, and the Sustainability Bond Guidelines 2021, developed by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA). The framework also incorporates principles of Climate Bond Standards/ Climate Bond Initiative, wherever applicable.
