Ajay Sawhney

Practice Areas

Partner; Projects and Financing

Ajay is a Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’ and Co-Heads the Noida office. Ajay focuses on projects and construction practice. Ajay has advised various business groups on acquisition of projects as well as their construction and development side of domestic and international projects. He has advised banks and financial institutions on marquee lending deals in infrastructure sector throughout Asia Pacific region, and is the only lawyer from India to represent Alfanar Group on the first project in NEOM (kingdom of Saudi Arabia). His list of clients include Zurich Airports, Apple Inc, EDF, Engie, Alfanar Group, Envision, GMR, SCB, HSBC, Barclays, Petronas, Larsen & Toubro etc.

Key Deals:

• Micron Technology Inc. on availing fiscal support from Government of India and Government of Gujarat for its assembly and test facility in Gujarat, India.

• Alfanar Global on development contract and various sub- contract packages in relation construction, operation and maintenance of construction villages for Neom city project, first cognitive city in Saudi Arabia.

• Chhatwal Group Trust (Shrem) and its affiliates, in relation to acquisition of stake in 34 subsidiaries of Dilip Buildcon Limited. The total value of the assets involved was approximately USD 2.5 billion, and the deal is one of the largest deal in the road sector in terms of value of assets.

• Adani Group in connection with their bids for privatisation of 5 airports in India, the first of its kind where 5 airports where put out for privatisation by Airport Authority of India.

• Zurich Airports AG and Yamuna International Airport Private Limited in connection with execution of the Concession Agreement with Noida International Airport Limited as well as bid process and EPC contract for appointment of EPC contractor for development of Jewar International Airport.

• GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited on rupee facility of INR 3, 215 Crore availed from a consortium of 5 banks/financial institutions for development of Phase - I of Bhogapuram International Airport.

• A French utility company on setting up a platform for development of battery storage plants in India.

• A leading Singapore based energy company on acquisition of the renewable energy platform of a renewable energy developer in India.

• Larsen & Toubro Limited in relation to claims management under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract executed for development and implementation of India International Convention & Expo Centre at Dwarka, New Delhi.

• Zurich Airports AG and Yamuna International Airport Private Limited in connection with preparation of bidding documents (including RFQs, RFPs and license agreements) for various non-aero packages pertaining to duty free, F&B outlets, airport lounges, retail outlets, advertisements and airport services of Noida International Airport.

• GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited in connection with the drafting of the bid documents, EPC agreement and conducting of the bid process for selection of EPC contractor for the development of the greenfield airport at Bhogapuram, Andhra Pradesh

• Webuild S.p.A. and APCO Infratech Private Limited in connection with to the drafting, reviewing and finalising of the EPC sub-contract for the construction of the Versova Bandra Sea Link located in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• Envision Group in connection with the drafting, reviewing, negotiating and finalising of the supply, services and O&M contracts for approximately 1.5 GW wind power projects in India.

• Advised Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, DBS Bank India Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in connection with financing of a 380 MWac solar project situated in the state of Rajasthan being implemented by a special purpose vehicle of O2 Power group.

• Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited on term loan facility to be utilised towards construction and development of Phase - I and Phase - II of Navi Mumbai International Airport.

• Amplus Group on divestment of Isquared Capital’s stake in Amplus Group to Petronas.

Professional Memberships

1. Bar Council of India

2. Bar Association of Punjab & Haryana High Court

Publications

• “India’s green ambitions - An assessment of recent policy decisions to curtail carbon emissions”, ETEnergyWorld

• “Scaling up Storage Solutions for Bolstering India’s Energy Security”, ETEnergyWorld

• “Indian Aviation Sector @ 75 Years of Independence and Beyond”, Aviation World Magazine

• “Replacement of Bank Guarantees with Surety Bonds: A Game Changer?”, Construction World Magazine “Avenues for automation in the O&M of solar power projects”, ETEnergyworld.com

• “Green Energy Open Access Rules: A step in the right direction?”, ETEnergyworld.com

• A book chapter titled “Aircraft Leasing Hub” for the IFSC Handbook titled “Doing Business in the IFSC” published by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

• “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Driving India’s transport sector towards a sustainable future”, ETEnergyworld.com.

Other Considerations:

• Monthly columnist for ET Energy World – “Energy Insights”.

Education

Awards