Anuja Tiwari is a member of the Bar Council of Delhi and provides legal representation to various entities such as financiers, developers and contractors involved in the energy and infrastructure sectors as well as the government. In the renewable energy sector specifically, she has extensive experience in advising financial and strategic investors and independent power producers on the myriad aspects of investing, developing and financing wind, solar, hydro and biomass-based power projects across the country. Over the years, she has developed core competence in advising clients on entry-level strategies, pre-dispute resolution strategies and transaction structuring, and on adapting their businesses to meet regulatory and policy changes.
While she has spent most of her career at Trilegal, Tiwari was appointed as acting general counsel of ENGIE’s subsidiary, Meenakshi Energy, in Hyderabad for a year, starting January 2015. Prior to that, she was seconded to Allen & Overy LLP’s Singapore office where she was a part of its project finance practice.
Tiwari believes that while the renewable energy sector in India is witnessing unprecedented growth, there are a number of challenges that remain. These pertain to the transition from feed-in tariffs to competitive bidding, the implementation of bankable power purchase agreements (PPAs), the land procurement process and grant of permits by government authorities. According to her, the solution lies in executing bankable PPAs, introducing adequate legislative and policy changes and adopting a single-window clearance mechanism in its true sense. She believes that the renewable energy sector has huge potential in contributing to achieving broader objectives like “Power for All” and building an ecologically sustainable environment.
One of her most memorable assignments was advising Mytrah Energy on its framework arrangement with Suzlon Energy for developing 2,000 MW of wind power projects. The deal won the Indian Business Law Journal Deal of the Year 2010 Award.
A strong believer in delivering quality and solution-oriented advice to her clients, Tiwari focuses on ethics-driven teamwork that ensures growth for all. An alumnus of Delhi University, Tiwari has been endorsed as a Rising Star lawyer by the International Financial Law Review 1000. Tiwari strives to maintain a work-life balance by trying to achieve internal efficiencies. She also tries to spend as much time as possible with her family. Going forward, she intends to be a part of an initiative that helps villages across the country become self-sufficient social and economic units.