Yes Bank said it will lend Rs 750 cr to Mahindra Renewables Pvt. Ltd., part of the Mahindra Group, for constructing a 250 megawatt solar farm in the solar park at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.
The project has raised another Rs 200 cr from other financial institutions and achieved financial closure, the bank added.
The 250 MW project of Mahindra Renewables will generate over 525 million units and sell around 78% of the generated units to Madhya Pradesh Electricity Distribution Utilities at Rs 3.3 per unit and the balance 22% to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, Yes Bank added.
The project is expected to commence commercial operations by December 2018 and is part of the 750 MW Rewa solar park, one of the largest solar parks in the world.
Mahindra Renewables Pvt is a unit of Mahindra Susten, which is a portfolio company of Mahindra Partners, the $1 billion private equity division of Mahindra Group.
Mahindra Susten has 1,750 MWp Solar projects at various stages of execution.
Mahindra Renewables won the project in the competitive bidding by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd — a 50:50 joint venture between Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikash Nigam Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India.
Other developers in the Rewa park include ACTIS PE backed Solenergi and ACME Group.
Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, president of Mahindra Partners said the firm wants to build a “sustainable presence” in the renewable energy space.
Mahindra Group has 257 MW of operational solar capacity, besides the Rewa project.
“The Rewa Solar Project is a significant step in this direction as this is one of the largest solar parks having the most bankable PPA terms and can become a model template for all upcoming solar projects,” Bhiwandiwala said.
YES BANK, for its part, has developed exposure to several renewable energy projects in recent years.
“Our support to this project builds on YES BANK’s commitment to mobilize $5 Bn for financing Solar Power projects in India by 2030 which we announced at the the International Solar Alliance (ISA) conference,” said founder & CEO Rana Kapoor.
YES BANK has been lending to Mahindra Group’s renewable energy ventures since 2011. It has so far underwritten five solar projects for the group with a total capacity of 382 MW, the bank said.
Presently, Mahindra Group, through Mahindra Susten Pvt. Ltd., is one of the leading solar Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies with demonstrated execution capability and has completed over 1,100 MW solar projects till date.