Khaba Renewable Energy and other ENGIE India entities have secured a INR9.82 billion (USD102.08 million) term loan to fund a Rajasthan solar power project, with law firms JSA, Nomos Société d’Avocats and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co (SAM) advising.
SAM acted for Khaba Renewable Energy and ENGIE India entities, while the consortium of lenders received counsel from JSA on India law and French firm Nomos Société d’Avocats on international laws. The lenders comprised the Indian branches of MUFG Bank, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, and BNP Paribas.
“This transaction is a testament to the increasing investor confidence in India’s renewable energy sector and required bespoke structuring to address the complex regulatory and commercial considerations inherent to large-scale solar projects,” lead partner for the SAM team, Anurag Dwivedi, told India Business Law Journal.
“Our mandate included negotiating comprehensive security arrangements and sophisticated risk allocation mechanisms to ensure both bankability and long-term sustainability for all stakeholders.”
Principal associate Megha Kaur, senior associate Shashwat Bhaskar, and associates Amogh Mittal and Palak Jhalani supported the SAM transaction team.
Dwivedi told IBLJ, “A distinguishing aspect of this assignment was the nuanced commercial structuring—such as aligning the commercial operations date, security package and grid infrastructure delay risk with the overall means of finance—particularly in light of the recent regulatory guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India on project finance.
“Articulating these intricacies to international lenders, including MUFG, Crédit Agricole CIB, and BNP Paribas, and proposing pragmatic risk mitigation strategies within the Indian regulatory context proved especially challenging and rewarding at the same time.”
The financing will be used to partly fund the development of Khaba Renewable Energy’s 250MW solar power project in Rajasthan and to partially refinance the company’s existing bridge facility.
