Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam (GNN) has made history by issuing India’s first certified Green Municipal Bond, raising ₹150 crore to fund a state-of-the-art Tertiary Sewage Treatment Plant (TSTP) in Indirapuram. This initiative, under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, aims to transform wastewater into a valuable resource for industrial use, promoting sustainable water management in the city.
The Green Municipal Bond was oversubscribed by more than four times, indicating strong investor confidence. The bond carries a competitive coupon rate of 8.10% and was developed under a Public-Private Hybrid Annuity Model (PPP-HAM), with 40% municipal funding. The TSTP employs cutting-edge membrane filtration technologies, including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, to treat 40 million liters of wastewater per day. The treated water is supplied through a 95 km pipeline network to over 1,400 industrial units, reducing reliance on freshwater sources.
Ghaziabad’s efforts have been acknowledged with the Best Municipal Treated Water Reuse Award at the Water Digest World Water Awards 2024-25, highlighting the city’s leadership in water conservation and sustainable urban development. This pioneering project sets a precedent for other urban local bodies in India to adopt sustainable financing mechanisms for infrastructure development, aligning financial discipline with environmental responsibility.