7 December, 2017
Shearman & Sterling advised Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Mizuho Bank as lenders and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) in relation to the development and financing of the 350 MW solar power project in Andhra Pradesh, India. SBG Cleantech ProjectCo Private Limited (SBG Cleantech), an Indian subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., is the developer of the project.
This marks JBIC’s first project finance loan into the Indian solar power market and the first time for NEXI to provide loan insurance on a photovoltaic project in India . This is also the first overseas solar power generation project invested by SBG Cleantech.
Under this project, SBG Cleantech will construct, own and operate a solar power generation plant with a total generation capacity of 350MW at the solar park in Kurnool district, located in the state of Andhra Pradesh in the south of India. SBG Cleantech will also sell the generated electricity to India's state-owned power generation company NTPC Limited for 25 years.
The government of India launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, a major initiative to promote solar power generation, for developing 100GW solar power capacity by 2022, with an aim to secure a stable power supply capability and diversify electricity power sources.
This project has started operating under the government's solar power initiative. On September 1, 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the "Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership" under which Japan will provide JPY3.5 trillion of public and private financing to India over the next five years. This project is also in line with the objectives of the initiatives undertaken by both governments.
In response to those initiatives between Japan and India, JBIC has made efforts to increase investment opportunities for Japanese companies, by conducting discussions with the government of India twice since May 2016 in order to promote Japanese investments in the electricity power generation business in India. This project is the first project that has been realized after these efforts under the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Shearman & Sterling team was led by partner Etienne Gelencsér (Tokyo-Project Development & Finance), with support from counsel Gregor Page (London-Project Development & Finance) and associates Lee Hill (Tokyo-Project Development & Finance), Paul Jun (Tokyo-Mergers & Acquisitions) and Amos Yoo (Singapore-Project Development & Finance).
