The bond’s admission on NSE IX is expected to enhance its international visibility and investor access

Sri Lanka’s first-ever Blue Bond — an LKR 3 billion issuance by DFCC Bank — has been dually listed on the NSE International Exchange (NSE IX) at GIFT City, marking the first blue bond to be admitted for trading within India’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) jurisdiction.

The dual listing has been facilitated under a Memorandum of Understanding exchanged between NSE IX and the Colombo Stock Exchange at GIFT City on Friday, which is aimed at strengthening cross-border capital market collaboration, enabling dual listings, and promoting innovative financial products across jurisdictions.

Primarily listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), the bond’s admission on NSE IX expands its international visibility and investor access, while reinforcing GIFT City’s growing role as a platform for sustainable finance instruments.

DFCC Bank in November 2025 had introduced the blue bonds to finance the sustainable use of marine resources, supply of clean drinking water, aquatic pollution control and the promotion of related sustainable economic activities, while offering an attractive return to investors. Blue bonds, a subset of green bonds, channel proceeds specifically toward marine conservation, sustainable fisheries, ocean-based economic activity and broader water-related environmental projects. The listing is expected to help diversify the investor base by enabling participation through GIFT City’s offshore regulatory framework.

Earlier, in June 2025, NSE IX hosted DFCC Bank PLC’s leadership at GIFT IFSC to mark the landmark listing of its LKR 2.5 billion foreign-currency green bonds — Sri Lanka’s first renewable energy-focused capital market debt instrument and the first foreign corporate issuance admitted to trading on the exchange.