Structured Finance for Solar Projects in India: World-Class Capital for Utility-Scale and Rooftop Plants

1 Overview

Search “solar project finance India” and you will find hundreds of lenders saying yes until the credit pack lands on their desk. Engineering, procurement and construction costs hit fast; revenue waits for commercial operation date. Add patchy payment records at a few state DISCOMs and the cookie-cutter loan vanishes. Our structured finance team pulls those risks apart so each slice lands with investors who get it. Sponsors win higher leverage, longer tenor and lighter covenants while panels crank out megawatts from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu.

2 What Is Structured Finance for Indian Solar?

We stream the cash flows—SECI tariff, state PPA revenue, open-access wheeling fees—into a special-purpose vehicle. The vehicle issues senior secured notes, mezzanine pieces or preference units. Each layer carries tailored security, from module-damage insurance to a payment-security escrow. Money arrives in local currency or hard currency, depending on the investor pocket. No parent guarantee required, no hand-wringing over corporate balance sheets.

3 Why Sponsors Pick This Route

• 100 % EPC bridge financing without a parent lien.
• Refinance expensive construction debt once real-world generation tops the P90 benchmark.
• Early equity release to fund the next solar park while panel prices stay on sale.
• Fixed coupons that shield project IRR from Reserve Bank rate moves.

4 Our Toolbox

Instrument	Collateral Base	Advance Rate / LTV	Typical Investor Crowd
Construction Bridge INR Notes	EPC milestone invoices	Up to 90 % of cost-to-complete	NBFCs, infrastructure debt funds
SECI PPA-Backed Bonds	Central government payment-security mechanism	70 – 85 % of NPV	Insurance desks, pension funds
State DISCOM Receivable Wrap	Discounted monthly invoices	60 – 75 % of face	Domestic mutual funds, public-sector banks
Masala Green Bonds	Ring-fenced local-currency cash flows	65 – 80 % of NPV	Global ESG managers chasing Indian exposure
Merchant Tail Stack	Post-PPA open-market sales	50 – 60 % of merchant NPV	Commodity trading arms, hedge funds

5 Deal-Flow Timeline

Day 1-10: Scoping. You share the financial model, PPA and site studies. We size likely debt and outline fees.
Day 11-45: Structuring. Counsel drafts the vehicle. Technical advisers vet irradiation data. Rating prep starts if public paper is planned.
Day 46-70: Placement. Targeted auction with lenders and investors. You pick the binding term sheet that nails price and tenor.
Day 71-95: Execution. Documents sign, security package perfects, funds land in the project account. Civil works break ground or refinancing closes.
Utility-scale desert solar wraps faster than floating arrays or battery-hybrid systems.

6 Case Snapshots

• Rajasthan 300 MW park: INR 11.5 bn construction bridge at 3-month T-Bill + 425 bps, refinanced by a SECI bond nine months later.
• Tamil Nadu rooftop cluster: INR 2.3 bn receivable wrap priced at 10.1 % fixed, five-year tenor, zero parent guarantee.
• Gujarat solar-plus-storage pilot: USD 35 m Masala green bond yielding 8.4 % equivalent, seven-year bullet, FX swap overlay.

7 Risk Shields

• P90, P75 and P50 generation scenarios baked into every cash-flow test.
• Tripartite agreement and Letter of Credit back-stop for state DISCOMs with soft payment records.
• Hedging of panel import costs and dollar liabilities at financial close.
• Quarterly investor reports tracking generation versus forecast down to the kilowatt-hour.

8 Why Financely

From 2020 to 2025 we arranged INR 74 bn and USD 410 m for Indian solar builds while rejecting nine deals that flunked land-title or irradiation checks. That filter means investors show up ready to close. You get blunt feedback and a lender bench that signs instead of stalls.

9 Get Started

Need “structured finance solutions for solar farms in India” that actually fund? Share the model and PPA. We answer inside forty-eight hours with a yes, a no or the price tag to make it work.

Figures and timelines reflect Financely Group India desk transactions 2020-2025. Funding depends on diligence, market conditions and credit-committee approval.