MUMBAI: Country’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced completion of a $1 billion Syndicated Social Loan Facility.
This syndicated transaction is significant for SBI and the Indian ESG financing market since it is the biggest ESG (environment, social and governance) loan by a commercial bank in the Asia Pacific and the second-largest social loan globally. Additionally, this is the bank’s inaugural social loan and the first syndicated loan in the past five years.
“As a responsible and sustainable organization, we are committed to conducting our business operations with the highest standards of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices,” said Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI in a statement. “Issuance of our first social loan is an embodiment of our commitment to ESG driven by our belief that our long-term success depends not only on our financial performance,” he added.