Citi India plans to launch sustainability-linked deposits soon

Pedestrians walk past a Citigroup Inc. bank branch in the Churchgate station area of Mumbai, India, on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. India's economy is expected to grow at 6.75 percent this year on the back of a recovery in second half of the year, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said in the Economic Survey presented in Parliament on Nov. 29.

Citigroup Inc.’s India unit is planning to offer sustainability-linked deposits in the coming months to its corporate and institutional clients, making it the first-of-its-kind product offering in the country, according to people familiar with the matter.

Money raised from these deposits will be invested by Citi to help multinational customers meet their environmental, social and governance obligations in India, the people said. Some projects that could be funded from these deposits include those undertaken by less privileged women or those belonging to economically-backward communities, the people said, declining to be named because the information is private.

A spokesperson for Citibank declined to comment on the matter.

Citi’s plans to launch this product in India follows its sustainability-linked supply chain financing and sustainable trade finance strategies in Asia Pacific in 2021. Most recently, the bank announced a co-financing loan for the agricultural sector to IndusInd Bank Ltd. along with Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Last year, the lender, which has a $1 trillion sustainable finance commitment by 2030, launched these deposits in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to a press statement at the time. Funds invested in these term deposits would be used to fund or refinance assets in green, environmental or social finance projects, according to the statement.