The Infrastructure Finance Secretariat in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance organised a workshop to sensitize the empaneled transaction advisers for PPP projects which was attended by representatives of 12 empaneled Transaction Advisers (TAs) for Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects.

The empanelment of TAs aims to provide quality advisory support to Project Sponsoring Authorities (PSAs) in transaction of PPP projects. The empanelment will help to make the process of appointment of transaction advisors/consultant seamless and efficient.

During the workshop, the Transaction Advisers were sensitized with the manual developed by the DEA for the use of the panel which is a step by step guide that can be referred by the PSAs to on-board a transaction adviser for structuring their PPP projects. The manual details out the steps for establishing project requirements; defining objectives of the assignment, developing terms of reference for the assignment, defining eligibility criteria, identifying key personnel for executing the project, publishing RfP etc. The PSAs can use the pre-defined templates and criteria’s for selecting the TAs or can tweak the same as per the requirement specific to the project.  

The Transaction Advisers were also sensitized regarding DEA schemes for financial support to PPPs which inter alia include Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme to support economically justified but commercially unviable projects, and the India Infrastructure Project Development Fund (IIPDF) to fund PPP project development expenses including costs of engaging TAs. Further, TAs were also informed about PPP project appraisal mechanisms at the DEA.

The TAs were sensitized about their support required in areas of awareness creation of DEA schemes, providing desired levels of handholding support in document preparation, data sharing and other interventions required to bridge the gap between the stakeholders involved in PPP projects.

Empanelment of Transaction Advisers streamlines PPP advisory appointments and links advisers to project development funding supports. Empanelment of Transaction Advisers creates a pre qualified panel to streamline appointment and enhance advisory quality for Public Private Partnership project structuring; a DEA manual prescribes steps for project requirements, objectives, terms of reference, eligibility criteria, key personnel, RfP publication and provides templates PSAs may adapt. The DEA also links empaneled advisers to financial support mechanisms, notably Viability Gap Funding and the India Infrastructure Project Development Fund, and outlines adviser roles in appraisal, awareness creation, document preparation, handholding and data sharing to support PPP project development.