Saraf and Partners (S&P) advised State Bank of India (“SBI”) for financing the construction and development of the Noida International Airport at Jewar

S&P recently advised SBI for financing the construction and development of the Noida International Airport at Jewar, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh (“Airport”), Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (“YIAPL”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG (“ZAIA”), has tied up financial assistance of up to Rs. 3,725 crore from SBI to finance the construction of the Airport.

The Airport, being set up under the PPP model under collaboration with a major international player like ZAIA showcases India’s growing world class infrastructure asset base. The Airport is expected to have 6 to 8 runways, the maximum at an airport in India, when fully built. This is one of the largest financings in an Indian greenfield airport. The Airport is of significant strategic importance and will ease air travel for a large passenger base from the NCR. The financing model also showcases ZAIA’s commitment to the project with the first phase of the Airport being funded on a debt-to-equity ratio of 65:35, and with ZAIA injecting Rs 2,005 crore as equity for the development of the Airport. The financing agreements were executed on August 10, 2021, marking the financial closure of the Airport.

S&P team was led by Partner, Satadru Goswami, ably assisted by Associates – Aryadevi, Jinay Padh and Nikhil Issar.