SunBorne Energy achieves financial closure of debt for 15 MW PV solar plant in Gujarat
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Indian Banks come forward to finance the solar power project
New Delhi, August 18, 2011: SunBorne Energy, a leading developer in utility scale solar projects, has achieved financial closure of debt for INR 140 Crore (approx. USD 32 Million) required for its 15 MW photo-voltaic plant in Karmaria, Kutch, Gujarat. This translates to becoming one of the earliest large-scale non-recourse project finance led by Indian lenders.
State Bank of Patiala, the lead bank, with three other banks i.e. Export-Import Bank of India, Canara Bank and State Bank of Travancore participated in the debt program. The debt advisory was led by SBI Capital Market Limited (SBICAPS).
James Abraham, Managing Director and CEO, SunBorne Energy believes that the support from Indian banks on the company’s project demonstrates their increasing confidence in the solar industry. Mr. Abraham feels this is good news for the industry and will give a lot of confidence to the industry.
Anil Nayar, Executive Director and CFO, SunBorne Energy said, “While there is enormous potential to install solar power in India, bankability and financing has been a key concern for many project developers. With Indian banks coming forward to fund solar projects, the prospect for the second phase of National Solar Mission and other state projects only look brighter. The industry is going to flourish and add back to the Indian economy with more such financing deals.”
Indian commercial banks are lending cautiously to projects in the solar sector due to large scale projects being commissioned for the first time in India, and banks trying to better grasp the technology risk and understand execution capability of the developers.
Shailendra Mohan Bebortha, Head of Project Finance, said “We are happy that the lending consortium invested time to understand the technology and associated risk and trusted our execution capabilities in the sector. This investment underlines our strengthening presence in the solar energy sector across India.”
The solar energy plant, one of the early and larger projects in Gujarat, is in the process of being
commissioned prior to December 31, 2011 and will provide 15 MW of photovoltaic power, producing enough electricity annually to power more than 10,000 households. The project shall also generate Carbon Credits under the CDM mechanism of UNFCCC.
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