April 24, 2008 -LAWFUEL – Law Firm Newswire – Chadbourne & Parke is representing the lenders on the financing of the $4.25 billion, 4,000MW Mundra coal fired uItra mega power project in India being developed by Tata Power Company. The loan agreements for the financing were executed in New Delhi on April 24, 2008.
Nine ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each have been announced by the Government of India, and Mundra is the first of those to execute loan agreements for financing. The lenders financing Mundra include International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank, The Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Export Import Corporation, BNP Paribas and the State Bank of India.
This is the largest financing ever for a power project in India. The project consists of five units of 800MW each and will utilize supercritical clean coal technology. This is the first time units of 800MW are being used in India, and the first private sector project in India to utilize supercritical technology.
“The Mundra project is a landmark power project financing not only in India but around the globe, and we are proud to have been a part of it. The speed with which the financing was implemented speaks volumes of the creativity and problem solving approach of all the parties involved,” said Chadbourne partner Rohit Chaudhry.
Working for Chadbourne on the deal are partners Peter Fitzgerald, Rohit Chaudhry, Lynne Gedanken, Ken Hansen, Hwan Kim, Rubin Weston and Charez Golvala, and associates Marissa Alcala, Mark Sigrist, Jenny Kim, Maya Abi Karam and Alexandra Lancaster.
“This is IFC’s largest financing ever. It should pave the way for future ultra mega power projects in India,” said Darius Lilaoonwala, Manager of the Infrastructure Department at IFC.
“Chadbourne’s rich experience and market knowledge of the Indian power sector was extremely valuable for our due diligence and negotiation of the loan agreements,” said Takeo Koike, Investment Specialist of Asian Development Bank.
“Given the unprecedented size of the project, this financing represents a paradigm shift in the way investors have been evaluating the Indian power sector and demonstrates a strong faith of the international lending community in Tata’s project implementation skills,” said Ramakrishna Pataballa, Director/E&C Structured Debt at BNP Paribas. ” While it is easy to underestimate the contribution of consultants to a successful financial closure, the contribution of Chadbourne and Indian counsel Amarchand in making this financing happen is invaluable under the circumstances.”
Boilers for the project are being supplied by Doosan and turbines are being supplied by Toshiba. A large portion of the coal for the project will be imported from Indonesia.
Chadbourne is a leading law firm for projects in India, having worked on over 25 infrastructure transactions there. The Firm recently represented the Overseas Private Investment Corporation on the $3 billion Dabhol workout.
