Specialist – Infrastructure & Tourism PPP

Experience - 6-12 yrs (infra / PPP focus)

Base

New Delhi (travel to project states)

Reports to

CEO, Atithi Foundation

About Atithi Foundation

Atithi Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation working to transform India's tourism sector into a key engine of economic growth. We partner with government bodies, industry leaders, knowledge institutions and community stakeholders to design evidence-based policies and strategies to create livelihoods, safeguard heritage, and strengthen India's position on the global tourism stage.

Our vision:

To make India a $490 billion tourism economy by 2035, with inclusive growth, preserving heritage, and showcasing the nation's culture and natural beauty to the world.

Tourism as an Economic Engine

Tourism generated over $200 billion for India in 2023, 5.5% of GDP, and supports nearly 40 million jobs (8% of national employment). 54% of the tourism workforce comprises women, making it one of India's most inclusive growth sectors.

India's Untapped Global Potential

Despite extraordinary geography and heritage, India attracted only 10 million foreign visitors in 2023 against China's 66 million (2019), Thailand's 40 million, and Vietnam's 18 million. Closing even half that gap is a multi-billion dollar opportunity.

Key Challenges We Are Solving

• Inadequate tourism infrastructure: Most high-potential destinations lack the accommodation, connectivity, and on-site facilities needed to convert visitors into multi-night stays
• PPP gap: Tourism assets remain underinvested because transaction structures, risk allocation, and bankable project formats are not yet in place at scale
• Fragmented governance: Infrastructure development, land, environment, and culture sit across multiple departments - a single coordination failure stops a project
• Narrow brand and distribution: India's top six destinations absorb the bulk of tourism spend; 90% of the country's potential goes unmonetised

The Role

This is not a conventional advisory or policy role.

Atithi is building India's first serious destination management infrastructure, and to do that, we need someone who has actually closed infrastructure PPP deals: structured the transaction, modelled the financials, negotiated risk allocation, and seen a project through financial close. Someone who understands both the government counterpart and the private investor, and can speak credibly to both.

This person will be our central SPOC on infrastructure and investment - covering multiple states and destinations simultaneously, building the transaction pipeline, and making sure our select destinations become genuinely investable.

What You Will Actually Do

1. Build and assist in the closure of the PPP Pipeline

• Identify, structure, and package PPP opportunities at Atithi's model destinations - hospitality, F&B, heritage site O&M, last-mile connectivity, visitor infrastructure
• Develop bankable transaction structures: concession agreements, revenue-share models, hybrid annuity structures, viability gap funding applications - calibrated to the risk appetite of Indian and international investors
• Lead financial modelling for each project: IRR/NPV analysis, sensitivity tables, debt sizing, government support quantification
• Assist in the management of the full transaction lifecycle from opportunity framing through investor outreach, term sheet negotiation, due diligence, and financial close
• Build and maintain a live pipeline across 3-5 states; track deal progress, blockers, and next actions with rigour

2. Government Partnership on Investment Structuring

• Work directly with Principal Secretaries, Tourism Departments, and Development Authorities to design PPP frameworks suited to each state's regulatory and land context
• Translate government priorities into investable project formats - including land lease structures, approval pathways, and fiscal incentive packages
• Support state governments in setting up destination development authorities or special purpose vehicles where needed
• Advise on infrastructure prioritisation: what to build with government capex, what to concession, what to attract private equity into

3. Investor Engagement and Capital Mobilisation

• Build relationships with the right private capital: hospitality developers, PE funds with real-asset mandates, family offices, DFIs (IFC, ADB, JICA), and CSR/philanthropic capital
• Assist in the management of competitive processes where appropriate; negotiate and close term sheets
• Develop a repeatable playbook so Atithi can run similar processes faster as we scale to more destinations
• Manage infrastructure and PPP workstreams simultaneously across multiple states - MP (Khajuraho, Orchha), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Shekhawati), Delhi monuments corridor, and new destinations as they come online
• Maintain a clear view of blockers at each destination and elevate to the right level - state government, Ministry, or Atithi leadership
• Coordinate with Atithi's strategy, policy, and government relations teams to ensure infrastructure work is integrated into the broader destination plan
• Build internal templates, checklists, and transaction playbooks so the organisation can execute at scale

5. Thought Leadership on Tourism Infrastructure Finance

• Develop Atithi's point of view on tourism financing: ANRF-type dedicated fund, tourism cess mechanisms, monument adoption frameworks, land-for-tourism PPP structures
• Produce high-quality transaction briefs, policy notes, and investment case documents for government and investor audiences
• Represent Atithi at relevant forums: infrastructure investment conferences, FICCI/CII tourism committees, multilateral development bank roundtables

Who We Are Looking For

The Non-Negotiables

• 6-10 years of experience, with a substantial portion spent on infrastructure PPP transactions - advisory, structuring, or principal side
• Has personally closed at least 2-3 PPP deals - seen a project from concept through financial close, not just prepared reports about it
• Strong financial modelling capability: can build or interrogate a project finance model, stress-test assumptions, and explain the outputs to a non-finance government counterpart
• Deep understanding of Indian infrastructure PPP frameworks: Model Concession Agreements, VGF, HAM, DBOT structures, SBICs, SPV setup, land lease models
• Comfortable working directly with government - understands how decisions get made, what files need to be pushed, and how to navigate inter-departmental complexity
• Willing to travel frequently to project locations and state capitals

Strongly Preferred

• Background in infrastructure transaction advisory (infrastructure practice, specialised PPP advisory firm, DFI project finance team, or infrastructure PE)
• Exposure to tourism, hospitality, or real estate as a sector - understands the unit economics of a hotel, the revenue drivers of a heritage site concession, the sensitivity of hospitality IRRs to occupancy assumptions
• Experience working with multilateral development banks (IFC, ADB, JICA, World Bank) - understands their appraisal processes, co-financing structures, and technical assistance instruments
• Has worked on projects in Tier 2/Tier 3 geographies - not just metro infrastructure; knows how to structure deals where land titles are complex and local government capacity is limited
• Some exposure to public sector reform or development sector work - comfortable in an organisation where the mission matters, not just the fee

What This Person Is Like

• Senior enough to walk into a room with a Principal Secretary or a DFI investment officer and be taken seriously. Hands-on enough to build the financial model themselves and stay on top of every deal detail.
• Not someone who manages teams that do the work. Someone who does the work and also builds the team around them.
• High on ownership. Comfortable with ambiguity. Energised by the idea of building something that doesn't fully exist yet and by the scale of what's at stake if we get it right.

Why Join Atithi Foundation

• Work that compounds

Every PPP you close and every destination you help transform becomes a replicable model. You are not just doing one project, you are building the infrastructure playbook for Indian tourism.

• Genuine ownership

This is a central team role covering all of Atithi's destinations. You will have full visibility and real influence over what gets built, how it gets structured, and which investors come in.

• Counterparts who matter

You will work directly with Ministries, Departments, CXOs of leading private sector players and senior investment professionals at DFIs and private funds. The access is real.

• A moment in time

Indian tourism is at an inflection point. PPP frameworks for tourism infrastructure are being written now. The person in this role has a chance to shape them, not just implement them.