Leap India Food

pending

IFC proposes to provide a debt investment of up to INR equivalent of US$80 million into 12 Special Purpose Vehicles (the “SPVs”) formed by Leap India Food and Logistics Private Limited (“Leap India” or the “Sponsor” or the “Company”) to support the development of state-of-the-art agricultural grain-storage silos (the “Project”). The projects will be implemented under 32.25-year Public–Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), under which FCI pays fixed storage, handling, and variable charges on a take-or-pay basis. Each of the 12 SPVs will enter into a separate Concession Agreement (CA) with FCI for the design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of its respective facility. The 12 SPVs will collectively cover 38 Project locations across five Indian states, with a combined storage capacity of 1.725 million Metric Tonne (MT). IFC investment will not be used for the existing 11 operational/ under construction silo facilities. The Project comprises the development and operation of modern grain-storage silo complexes implemented under Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Own (DBFOO) or Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT), depending on the specific CA structure, in accordance with applicable technical standards and Good International Industry Practice (GIIP); and, where required, demolition and removal of existing structures to prepare sites for new storage assets. Each Project capacity ranges from 50,000 MT to 150,000 MT, including multiple silos and each silo capacity is around 12,500 MT. Leap India existing operations include 11 silo projects spread across various parts of country including Punjab, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. Leap India has received letter of award (LoA) for all 38 Projects, and the SPVs have signed CA with FCI. Following the signing of the CA, the SPVs are required to achieve commencement of operations within 810 days from the effective date of signing of the agreement. These silo Projects will be deployed under two interconnected models: (a) Hub Model: godowns and silos located at rail-linked hubs which act as central nodes for long-distance grain movement; and (b) Spoke Model: road-connected silos serve local and regional distribution needs, enabling an integrated storage and logistics network. Post signing of the CA, the respective SPVs will procures suitable land and undertake construction through Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model. The EPC contract will be awarded to Mahanadi, a Leap India subsidiary, to undertake construction in line with the technical specifications and design requirements as per the CA. During operations, a wheat silo facility manages grain through a mechanized steel-silo system designed to receive, clean, store and dispatch food grains as per FCI requirement through rail and road logistics network. Grain arrives either through a dedicated railway siding with a bottom-discharge hopper or through truck deliveries at designated unloading areas within the Project premises. Rail wagons are unloaded through an under-track hopper feeding the intake pit linked to the process tower. Grain delivered by truck is unloaded manually. The loading and unloading of the grain are within the scope of FCI and are undertaken by FCI appointed contractors. The bagged grain once received at the Project site, is debagged by third-party workers engaged by the company/ SPV. Once debagged and cleaned, grain is transferred through bottom conveyors and routed either to bulk-loading points or to bagging units equipped with mechanical bagging and stitching machines. Depending on operational requirements stipulated by FCI, dispatch is undertaken either by truck or rail.