Is BIG LOANS a bank or NBFC?

No. BIG LOANS is a debt advisory and loan facilitation firm. We are not an RBI-regulated lender and do not lend on our own balance sheet.

What is the minimum and maximum ticket size BIG LOANS handles?

Our focus is ₹100 crore and above. We routinely arrange transactions up to several thousand crore through syndication.

Which industries does BIG LOANS serve?

BIG LOANS is industry-agnostic across manufacturing, real estate, infrastructure, healthcare, energy, IT/ITES, hospitality, NBFC, fintech and more.

What is the typical timeline from mandate to disbursement?

Typically 6–12 weeks for working capital, 10–16 weeks for term loans, and 12–24 weeks for syndicated project finance.

How does BIG LOANS charge its fees?

A modest engagement retainer plus a success fee linked to actual disbursement, governed by a written engagement letter.

Does BIG LOANS guarantee loan sanction?

No. Sanction is the sole prerogative of the regulated lender, based on its credit policy.

Service · Project Finance

Project finance, structured around your cash flow.

Greenfield and brownfield project finance for capex programmes of ₹250 crore and above. We structure the term sheet, build the financial model, manage TEV and LIE appointments, and place the debt with the right combination of banks, NBFCs and credit funds — under a common loan agreement.

Ticket: ₹250 – 5,000 Cr+Tenor: 8 – 15 yearsTimeline: 12 – 24 weeks

Discuss your mandate → See the process

What is project finance?

Project finance is a long-tenor, limited-recourse loan structure where the lender's primary repayment source is the cash flow of the project itself — not the parent sponsor's balance sheet. The debt is housed in a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), secured by a charge on project assets and escrow of project receivables, with a sponsor guarantee capped at agreed levels. Indian project finance is RBI-regulated, typically requires a TEV (Technical Economic Viability) study for tickets above ₹250 crore, runs 8 to 15 years, and combines bank-led consortiums with NBFC and AIF participation.

Section 01 — Overview

Capital ringfenced around the project, not the parent.

Project finance is the specialist cousin of the term loan. A regular term loan looks at the borrower's overall balance sheet for repayment. Project finance focuses on the project's own cash flow as the primary repayment source, with limited (or no) recourse to the sponsor's parent company.

For sponsors, this lets you fund large capex without polluting the parent's gearing ratio. For lenders, it ringfences risk to the project. The trade-off: longer due diligence, tighter covenants, an SPV structure, and far more documentation than a vanilla term loan.

Limited or non-recourse to the sponsor parent — debt sits in an SPV
Common Loan Agreement across multiple lenders — single sanction document
Independent TEV by approved consultants (SBI Caps, ICICI Securities, Deloitte, KPMG, EY)
Step-in rights, escrow / TRA mechanisms for project receivables
Tenor matched to project cash-flow profile — typically 8 to 15 years

Typical ticket

₹250 – 5,000 Cr+

Sponsor equity

25 – 30%

Tenor

8 – 15 years

Moratorium

Up to construction + 6 mo

Min DSCR

1.20 – 1.40×

Pricing

MCLR/T-Bill + spread

Section 02 — Use cases

Where project finance works.

Six common situations where promoters approach BIG LOANS for limited-recourse project finance.

Greenfield manufacturing

A new plant, expanded line, or PLI-scheme aligned facility where the project's own EBITDA repays the debt over 8 – 10 years.

Renewable energy

Solar, wind, hybrid and BESS projects backed by long-term PPAs with discoms or corporate offtakers. Typical 75:25 debt:equity.

Roads & highways

HAM, BOT and TOT concessions where annuity or toll cash flows service the debt. Common Loan Agreement, NHAI direct payment.

Healthcare projects

New hospital construction or major capacity expansion. Cash flow from in-patient and OPD revenues, parental guarantee from holding company.

Hospitality

Greenfield hotel construction or major refurb with longer moratoriums. Cash flow based on RevPAR ramp-up and stabilisation.

Specialty industrial

Chemicals, specialty pharma, integrated logistics parks, data centres — projects with differentiated cash-flow profiles.

Section 03 — At a glance

Project finance vs term loan.

Feature	Project Finance	Term Loan
Recourse	Limited / non-recourse to sponsor	Full recourse to borrower
Repayment source	Project cash flow only	Overall borrower cash flow
Borrower entity	SPV	Existing company
Documentation	CLA + sponsor guarantee + step-in rights	Standard loan agreement
Ticket size	₹250 Cr to several thousand Cr	₹100 – 2,000 Cr
TEV requirement	Mandatory above ₹250 Cr	Required only for larger capex

In project finance the SPV cash flow services the debt — with limited recourse to the sponsor.

Section 04 — Our process

From mandate to financial close, in six stages.

Project finance typically takes 12 to 24 weeks from mandate signing to first drawdown. Documentation-heavy and lender-due-diligence-intensive — managed entirely by us.

Discovery & mandate signing

Review of business case, sponsor track record, expected cash flow, ticket size. Mutual NDA. Engagement letter.

Week 1

Diagnostic & structuring

Project financials, sponsor balance sheet, sector-specific risks. Funding structure: facility mix, D:E, tenor, security, lender shortlist.

Week 2 – 4

Pitch pack & appraisals

Information Memorandum, financial model, DSCR / FACR / IRR projections, security memorandum. TEV and LIE appointed.

Week 4 – 8

Lender outreach & sanction

IM to 6–10 shortlisted lenders. Q&A, site visits, credit committees, competing term sheets negotiated.

Week 8 – 14

Documentation & financial close

Common Loan Agreement, hypothecation and mortgage deeds, intercreditor agreement, escrow / TRA, CPs satisfied.

Week 14 – 22

First drawdown & monitoring

Disbursement against milestones. LIE certifies progress; lenders disburse against milestones. Ongoing covenant compliance.

Week 20+

Section 05 — Documents

What you'll need ready.

An indicative documentation list. Having the basics ready accelerates the timeline by several weeks.

Corporate documents

MOA/AOA, board resolutions, shareholding pattern, KYC of promoters and directors, ROC filings.

Project documents

DPR, TEV report (or scope for fresh TEV), financial model, capex schedule, key contracts (EPC, O&M, offtake).

Financial documents

3 years of sponsor/SPV audited financials, provisional, GST returns, bank statements, existing facility letters.

Land & regulatory

Land title, change-of-land-use, environmental clearance, sector-specific approvals (NHAI/SECI/state).

Section 06 — Lender universe

Who funds project finance in India.

Project finance is one of the few products where the full breadth of Indian lenders participates — PSU banks to private banks, foreign banks, NBFCs, AIF credit funds.

01PSU Banks (SBI, BOB, PNB, Canara, Union)

02Private Banks (HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak, Yes, IndusInd)

03Foreign Banks (StanChart, HSBC, DBS, Citi)

04Infrastructure NBFCs (REC, PFC, IIFCL, IREDA)

05Diversified NBFCs (L&T Finance, Aditya Birla, Bajaj)

06AIF Credit Funds (Cat II — domestic & foreign)

Section 07 — FAQ

Project finance — FAQs.

How is project finance different from a term loan?

A regular term loan looks at the borrower's overall balance sheet. Project finance focuses on the project's own cash flow as the primary repayment source, with limited recourse to the sponsor. Allows larger tickets, longer tenors, and risk ring-fencing — at the cost of heavier documentation and tighter covenants.

What sponsor equity contribution is typical?

Typically 25 – 30% for greenfield projects. Some sectors (renewable energy with strong PPAs) accept 20% equity; some (hospitality, early-stage industrial) may require 35 – 40%. Sponsor equity must come in upfront, before debt drawdown begins.

What is a Common Loan Agreement (CLA)?

A single loan agreement signed by all participating lenders. Without it, each lender has separate documentation, separate security, and separate enforcement rights — operationally messy. The CLA standardises terms across the consortium and creates a lead bank.

What is a TEV and why required?

Technical Economic Viability — an independent appraisal of the project's technical feasibility, capex estimate, market demand, and financial projections. RBI requires TEV for project finance loans above ₹250 crore.

Can new lenders join mid-project?

Yes — through a novation or assignment structure built into the original CLA. Useful if a participating lender wants to exit, or if you want to bring in a credit fund for refinance after construction completion.

What does it cost?

Modest engagement retainer (paid monthly across the deal timeline) plus a success fee of 50 – 100 bps of the sanctioned amount, split into sanction fee and drawdown fee. Lender processing fees (25 – 100 bps) are separate.

Often combined with…

Have a project?

Let's structure your project finance.

Send us a one-page brief. We respond with feasibility and structuring within one working day.

Discuss your mandate → mandates@bigloans.in

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