Now Reading: HomeFirst Finance funds ESG-rated individual homes to attract green capital
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HomeFirst Finance funds ESG-rated individual homes to attract green capital
HomeFirst Finance funds ESG-rated individual homes to attract green capital
HomeFirst Finance, an affordable housing lender, has financed over 600 individual homes certified under new green-building standards co-developed with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Mumbai-based company aims to extend its ESG…
HomeFirst Finance, an affordable housing lender, has financed over 600 individual homes certified under new green-building standards co-developed with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Mumbai-based company aims to extend its ESG push to individual houses, a segment previously overlooked in India's green building certification, which focused mainly on large developer apartments.
The lender has sanctioned 38,507 loans under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, providing Rs 966 crore in subsidy benefits to customers. Over 90% of its disbursements are now paperless. The company raised Rs 280 crore from IFC via a seven-year debt in December 2022 and plans to scale certified homes to around 10,000 before launching green bonds.
After the full exit of private equity firm Warburg Pincus in August 2025, HomeFirst will operate as a publicly held company with an independent board, led by foreign and domestic institutional investors. CEO Manoj Viswanathan said the ESG focus helps attract sustainable capital from global funds, particularly Scandinavian pension and investment funds looking for green projects.
Indian Opinion Analysis
HomeFirst's move to certify individual homes under green standards addresses a structural gap in India's ESG lending market. Unlike large apartment projects, individual homes lacked a certification framework, limiting access to sustainability-linked finance. With a 'Low Risk' ESG rating of 13.6 from Sustainalytics and a strong score from Crisil, the company is positioning itself to tap into global green bond markets, which typically demand scale. The key number to watch is 10,000: if HomeFirst reaches that certified home count, it could become one of the first Indian affordable housing lenders to issue green bonds, potentially lowering its cost of capital and setting a precedent for the sector.
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
