Shehla Sadaf serves as Chief General Manager (Projects) at Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC). During over 25 years of her experience in the power sector, she has developed a strong understanding of the financial and operational requirements of energy and infrastructure projects. In her current role, she leads business development initiatives and manages loan portfolios for state sector projects across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
Her experience spans the entire project financing lifecycle, from deal origination and structuring to technical and financial analysis, appraisal, sanction, post-sanction activities and project monitoring. As a result, she has built a strong track record in closing complex deals and managing disbursements across diverse segments, including thermal, hydro, pumped storage, solar, wind, transmission and distribution, as well as ports and roads.
She feels that India’s power sector has witnessed robust growth, driven by rising demand and sustained policy support. In particular, initiatives such as the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, and the rollout of smart meters have significantly improved discom finances. Meanwhile, India has crossed a major milestone, with over 50 per cent of its installed capacity now coming from non-fossil sources. “PFC has been playing a catalytic role and remains fully committed to financing the country’s energy transition, having supported around 64 GW of renewable capacity,” she says.
However, as the sector moves away from its reliance on thermal power towards a more sustainable system, new challenges are coming to the fore. According to her, the next phase of the energy transition will hinge on addressing issues related to integration, reliability and scale. Therefore, augmenting transmission and distribution networks, advancing storage solutions, and building a robust framework for integrating renewable capacity are critical.
Reflecting on her journey, Sadaf highlights that one of her most memorable assignments was securing the business and financing for PFC’s first infrastructure project, a greenfield port in the southern region. This endeavour required innovative deal structuring and intensive multi-stakeholder coordination to achieve timely financial closure.
Sadaf believes in leading by example and fostering team development through clear accountability, guidance and informed decision-making.