NDB's India Push: Local-Currency Lending Moves From Principle to Pipeline

September 20, 2026

The BRICS-backed New Development Bank is shifting weight toward private-sector, local-currency infrastructure lending in India. In August 2026, NDB President Dilma Rousseff said the bank had approved nearly USD 10.5 billion across 35 projects in India, eight of them non-sovereign, and outlined a planned rupee bond programme of about INR 250 billion over five years. Nearly 30% of NDB projects are already financed in national currencies, with a target above 45% by 2031. Three proposals now sit in its disclosed pipeline, none yet a closed financing: ReNew Peak Power (proposed loan of about USD 149.88 million, co-listed with ADB and AIIB financing), the HUDCO Affordable Housing Project (concept approval, USD 300 million for 188,130 homes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and a Brazil grid-resilience loan proposed in yuan (RMB 675 million). For rupee-earning developers the currency thesis is strongest where equipment or debt is offshore; pricing will follow the domestic yield curve. No disclosure was found of NDB issuing insurance-linked bonds. Cross-reference: Real Estate & Infrastructure Desk.

Cross-reference: Real Estate & Infrastructure Desk

The signal. The BRICS-backed New Development Bank is shifting weight toward private-sector, local-currency infrastructure lending in India. Three proposals now sit in its disclosed pipeline, and none is a closed financing yet.

The scale

In August 2026, NDB President Dilma Rousseff said the bank had approved nearly USD 10.5 billion across 35 projects in India, eight of them non-sovereign. NDB is targeting 30% of financing from non-sovereign operations, rising to 35% under its 2027-31 strategy. It plans a rupee bond programme of about INR 250 billion over five years, alongside USD 5 billion of sovereign lending, for roughly USD 7.5 billion of planned Indian investment.

The currency thesis

Nearly 30% of NDB projects are financed in national currencies today, and the bank's strategy aims to exceed 45% by 2031. NDB already issues in South African rand, and its rupee issuance was described in May 2026 as being at the final stage. The Chinese yuan holds the largest share of its local-currency book. For borrowers, the logic is straightforward: revenues in one currency and debt in another is where infrastructure economics tend to break.

Three proposals to track

ReNew Peak Power (India). A hybrid plant of 250 MW wind, 435 MW solar and a 415 MWh battery system, designed to deliver 300 MW of firm peak supply. It is listed as a proposed loan of about USD 149.88 million on a USD 600.74 million project. The same project also appears in ADB and AIIB disclosures: ADB approved USD 530.52 million and AIIB approved USD 100 million. This looks like co-lending rather than competition between banks.

HUDCO Affordable Housing (India). Concept approval came in August 2026 for a proposed USD 300 million facility supporting 188,130 affordable homes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. One structural note: the Government of India owns 74.8% of HUDCO, so "non-sovereign" here describes NDB's lending category, not a private borrower. (Real Estate & Infrastructure Desk: see housing-finance angle.)

Climate Resilient Electricity Distribution (Brazil). Concept approval was on 5 July 2026, with proposed NDB financing of RMB 675 million against a total project cost of BRL 4.5 billion. The borrower is a private distributor serving 3.1 million customers. The loan is proposed in yuan, not reais, so "local currency" here means a member-country currency, and a borrower earning reais may still carry residual FX exposure.

Why it matters for developers

For rupee-earning assets, a rupee-funded NDB line could remove one layer of exchange risk and add a lender that is not a domestic bank. The benefit is largest where equipment or debt is offshore, as in renewables and storage. It is smaller for road annuity projects that already pay in rupees. Pricing will follow the domestic yield curve, so the advantage depends on how deep NDB's rupee funding gets.

What the signal does not show

• Stage. All three projects are at proposal or concept stage. Approval, terms and pricing are not yet public.

• Insurance-linked instruments. We found no disclosure of NDB issuing insurance-linked bonds. ADB is issuing its first parametric catastrophe bonds in 2026, and the World Bank issued USD 420 million of cat bonds for Mexico in 2024. These instruments hedge disaster risk, not project credit default, and they are not unique to NDB.

• Accountability. NDB does not currently have an independent accountability mechanism for complaints on the projects it finances. That matters for developers and communities assessing ESG and grievance risk.

Watch list

The first rupee bond issuance and its pricing, final approval of the HUDCO facility, and whether the ReNew loan closes in rupees.

Editor's Note

NDB's India tally has moved within months. In March 2026 it was cited as nearly USD 10 billion across 32 projects. The August figure is 35 projects and USD 10.5 billion. Read the difference as a growing pipeline, not a data conflict.

Which matters more for an India infrastructure developer: cheaper local-currency funding or faster appraisal timelines?