Truly ahead of the curve, the infrastructure and project finance team at Desai & Diwanji comprises reputed specialists that service international as well as Indian clients, which include multilateral agencies, governments, project sponsors, developers, EPC contractors, investors (both private and institutional), private equity and other investment funds, lenders, banks, financial institutions, export credit agencies and public sector enterprises. The Firm has been at the forefront of infrastructure and project finance work in India, having successfully navigated the complex regulatory landscape and provided innovative solutions in relation to a variety of infrastructure asset classes, including:
• more than 60 independent power producers (IPPs)
• liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects
• ports
• upstream oil & gas projects
• downstream gas transportation and storage
• pipelines
• mining projects
• conventional as well as renewable energy solutions (including thermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, wind, biofuels, e-mobility, hydrogen and hybrid power)
• satellite and telecommunications infrastructure
• water supply and sanitation projects
• transportation infrastructure (including roads, highways, bridges, airports, railways and mass rapid transport systems)
• waste treatment plants
• other urban infrastructure projects
Our advice encompasses the entire life cycle of a project, right from the bidding process up to financial closure and commercial operation date (COD). The Firm regularly advises on:
• concession agreements
• public-private partnership (PPP) models
• all manner of project delivery methods (including BOT, BOOT, BOO, BOLT, DBOT, DBFOT, OMT and HAM)
• FIDIC contracts
• engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts
• operations and maintenance (O&M) agreements
• production sharing contracts (PSCs) as well as joint operating agreements (JOAs)
• fuel supply agreements and power purchase agreements (PPAs)
• offtake agreements
• LNG sale purchase agreements
• farm-in / farm-out agreements
• gas sale agreements
• gas transportation agreements
• tariff advisory
• risk assessment and preparation of risk matrices
• advisory related to permits and consents
• assessment of land acquisition issues, including property related diligence, advice pertaining to all types of land tenures across India, and land-use categorisation (village land, forest land, tribal land, eco-friendly zones, etc.)
• environmental law related compliances
• advisory on applicable permits and consents
• wildlife protection laws
• compliance with coastal regulation zone (CRS) regulations
• laws governing natural resources
• advisory on sector-specific laws.
Our team is adept at handling everything from basic vanilla financing to complex structured finance, including innovative stressed asset financing structures and support on financing issues. We have advised lenders and borrowers on various foreign debt transactions (including ECBs, trade credits, FPI, etc routes), domestic debt transaction involving complex security structures (including security on listed securities), structured guaranteed obligations for financing of JV/ WOS, working capital financing, etc. We have expertise is handling multi lender consortium financing arrangements (with diverse interests) and harmonising the inter creditor arrangements which protects the interests of all the creditors. We have advised lenders on pre-insolvency restructuring under the RBI framework for resolution of stressed assets and have devised implementable structures that protect the interest of the lenders and enables the lenders to get recompensated when the stress subsides in the borrower. We also advise lenders on various cash trapping mechanism (including trust and retention account agreements and collection escrow mechanism) so as to ensure that the cashflows of the borrower are used for the purpose identified by the lenders.
Lawyers from our infrastructure and project finance practice adopt a multidisciplinary approach and collaborate extensively with members of the Firm’s other practice areas in order to provide clients with in-depth as well as domain-specific legal advice and solutions coupled with a seamless service experience, resulting in an efficient realisation of client objectives.
The Firm has received several awards and recognitions for its work in the infrastructure and project finance space.