| Dayanidhi Solar Power Private Limited | ||||
| 'Provisional Crisil A-/Stable' assigned to Bank Debt | ||||
| Rating Action | ||||
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| & A prefix of 'Provisional' indicates that the rating centrally factors in the strength of specific structures and is contingent upon occurrence of certain steps or execution of certain documents by the issuer, as applicable, without which the rating would either have been different or not assigned ab initio. This is in compliance with a May 6, 2015 directive ‘Standardizing the term, rating symbol, and manner of disclosure with regards to conditional/ provisional/ in-principle ratings assigned by credit rating agencies' by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and April 27, 2021 circular ‘Standardizing and Strengthening Policies on Provisional Rating by Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) for Debt Instruments’ by SEBI. | ||||
| Note: None of the Directors on Crisil Ratings Limited’s Board are members of rating committee and thus do not participate in discussion or assignment of any ratings. The Board of Directors also does not discuss any ratings at its meetings. | ||||
| 1 crore = 10 million | ||||
| Refer to Annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities |
Detailed Rationale Crisil Ratings has assigned its ‘Provisional Crisil A-/Stable’ rating to the long-term bank facility of Dayanidhi Solar Power Pvt Ltd (Dayanidhi). The six special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) of the Acme group – Aarohi Solar Pvt Ltd (Aarohi), Dayanidhi, Vishwatma Solar Energy Pvt Ltd (Vishwatma), Acme Jaisalmer Solar Power Pvt Ltd (Jaisalmer), Niranjana Solar Energy Pvt Ltd (Niranjana) and ACME Solar Rooftop Systems Pvt Ltd (ASRSPL) – are proposed to form a group of co-obligors consisting of 190 megawatt (MW) of solar assets. The group is proposing to refinance its entire debt obligation and will share cash flows, reserve and debt service reserve account (DSRA) among the group for timely debt repayment.
For assigning the provisional rating, Crisil Ratings has reviewed the sanction letter shared by the company, which outlines conditions such as sharing of cash flows, reserves and DSRA, along with defined cross-default mechanism. The provisional rating will be converted into a final rating on receipt of the signed documents, such as financing agreements with conditions of unequivocal, irrevocable, timely and unconditional meeting of debt obligation among the group; along with escrow agreement detailing sharing of cash flows in line with the proposed structure.
The rating reflects the Acme group’s healthy revenue visibility and adequate debt servicing metrics and track record. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to counterparty risks and susceptibility to risks inherent in the operations of renewable energy assets. |
Analytical Approach Crisil Ratings has combined the business and financial risk profiles of the six Acme SPVs, in line with its criteria for rating entities in homogeneous groups. The rating of the individual SPVs has been equated to that of the group. The SPVs are Aarohi, Dayanidhi, Vishwatma, Jaisalmer, Niranjana and ASRSPL. All these entities operate solar power assets, have centralised management and treasury, and remain critical to the group. Each SPV acts as a co-obligor to the other. Cash flows of each SPV can be used across the group for debt servicing and DSRA maintenance. Any deviation in this understanding remains a key rating sensitivity factor.
Please refer Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation. |
Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description Strengths:
The DSRA covering one quarter of debt obligation (~Rs 53.41 crore) in all the six entities would be maintained in the form of fixed deposits. The entities have also confirmed that additional cash liquidity of three months, over and above the DSRA, would be maintained either in the six SPVs or at least at the promoter level over the medium term. The group will have support from Acme Solar Holdings Ltd (ASHL; promoter) through own liquidity. The group will ensure timely infusion of necessary funds for full debt servicing throughout the loan tenure pre-DSRA dip of the group. Any deviation in this understanding will be a rating sensitivity factor.
Weaknesses:
The entities have now started receiving prior dues in the form of instalments and, as on date, Rs 113.56 crore of past receivables are likely to be received in five monthly installments through August 2025. Additionally, current monthly dues since the implementation of the LPS scheme are being received with a lag of 60-75 days from the billing date. This has eased the receivables position for all the entities.
Continuation of timely receipts of the dues from APSPDCL will remain monitorable.
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Liquidity: Adequate Cash accrual for the group is likely to be Rs 220-225 crore each in fiscals 2026 and 2027 (at P90 PLF), against annual debt obligation of Rs 207 crore and Rs 206 crore, respectively. The entities would maintain cumulative DSRA fixed deposits of ~Rs 53 crore covering three months of debt obligation. The SPVs shall also maintain additional cash liquidity equivalent to three months of debt servicing, which will either be maintained in the six SPVs or at least at the promoter level. The liquidity will be supported by the shortfall undertaking of the promoter (ASHL), which has demonstrated track record of support in the past and a healthy liquidity. The group will ensure timely infusion of necessary funds for full debt servicing throughout loan tenure pre-DSRA dip of the group. |
Outlook: Stable The group is expected to benefit over the medium term from sustained operational performance (PLF) and long-term PPA with offtaker. |
Rating sensitivity factors Upward factors:
Downward factors:
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Additional disclosures for the provisional rating The provisional rating is contingent upon the occurrence of the following: The provisional rating shall be converted into a final rating after receipt of transaction documents duly executed and on confirmation of completion of pending steps within 90 days from the date of issuance of the rated long-term facilities.
The final rating assigned after conversion shall be consistent with the available documents and completed steps. In case of non-completion of steps or non-receipt of the duly executed transaction documents within the specified timelines, the rating committee of Crisil Ratings may grant an extension of up to another 90 days in line with its policy on provisional ratings.
Key terms of proposed financing agreement
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Rating that would have been assigned in the absence of the pending documentation In the absence of pending steps/documentation considered while assigning the provisional rating as mentioned above, Crisil Ratings would have assigned the ‘Crisil A-/Stable’ rating. It is pertinent to note that this rating is not comparable to the provisional rating, as in the absence of the above co-obligor structure and the covenants and/or conditions mentioned in the term sheet, Dayanidhi’s rating would be devoid of the benefit (or having limited benefit) of covenants such as trapping of entire cash post debt servicing and sharing of cash flows among assets of the group in envisaged manner. |
Risks associated with the provisional rating: The 'Provisional' prefix indicates that the rating is contingent on occurrence of certain steps or execution of certain documents by the issuer, as applicable. If the documents received and/or completion of steps deviate significantly from the expectations, Crisil Ratings may take an appropriate action, including placing the rating on watch or changing the rating/outlook, depending on the status of progress on a case-to-case basis. In the absence of the pending steps/documentation, the rating on the instrument would not have been assigned ab initio. |
About the Company Dayanidhi was incorporated on January 20, 2014, under the Companies Act, 2013. It operates a solar power project of 40 MW in Andhra Pradesh and has signed a PPA at a fixed tariff of Rs 5.97 per kWh for 25 years. It is part of the Acme group. |
Key Financial Indicators
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Any other information: Not Applicable |
Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument: |
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
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Annexure – List of entities consolidated
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| Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| All amounts are in Rs.Cr. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Annexure - Details of Bank Lenders & Facilities | ||||||||
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Criteria Details
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