Luthra & Luthra has acted for the State Bank of India led consortium of 22 banks and financial institutions for a $2.08 billion syndicated rupee debt deal for a Tata Steel project at Jamshedpur.

Delhi firm LexCounsel has advised on a joint venture (JV) agreement between public listed education service provider Educomp Solutions Limited (ESL) and Lavasa Corporation to set up four educational institutes to benefit from investment opportunities in the booming education sector.

AZB & Partners has shot to the top of the mergermarket M&A league table by acting on seven out of eight of the largest M&A deals in the first three months of 2010. Desai & Diwanji and Amarchand Mangaldas respectively came in at second and third place by number of deals done.

Allen & Overy (A&O) and Indian best friend firm Trilegal have scooped the mandated lead arranger mandate on the closing Bharti Airtel – Zain $9bn merger, alongside AZB & Partners, Herbert Smith and Linklaters.

Vaish Associates has advised longstanding clients Religare in the acquisition of healthcare solutions business of Bangalore-based Sobha Renaissance Information Technology (SRIT) for an undisclosed amount.

SN Gupta & Co has kick-started its sports practice by advising on the $333m (Rs 1,533 crore) buy of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) new Kochi team by the Rendezvous Sports World consortium.

Naveen Goel Law Offices and Olswang have closed the Rs 250 crore contract negotiations for UK broadcaster SIS Live, which bid for the broadcasting rights to the 2010 Commomwealth Games with Indian public broadcaster Doordarshan and Prasar Bharati.

DSK Legal, India Law Alliance and P&A Associates have advised Zicom Electronic Security Systems on restructuring and transferring of business units for Rs 225 crore ($49m) to Schneider Electric.

Luthra & Luthra has advised Abbott Laboratories in its 20 per cent open offer of the Indian subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals as part of the €5.2bn global acquisition of the Belgium-based pharma company.

Khaitan & Co is the domestic counsel for Mahindra Forgings Limited and Jones Day Singapore the international legal advisors to the qualified institutional placement (QIP) filed by Mahindra & Mahindra owned forging and auto component company.

Induslaw has acted as sole advisor to education provider Educomp Solutions, which acquired Studyplaces.com from Zaptive Internet Services.

AZB & Partners has been instructed on Bharti Airtel’s $10.7bn bid for the African business of Kuwaiti telecoms group Zain, with Herbert Smith and Linklaters scoring the international advisory mandates for the Indian company’s third attempt to enter the continent.

ALMT Legal in Bangalore and Malaysian law firm Zuraidah Naziha & Fadly advised Indian developer Davanam Constructions and Ascenteus Holdings of Malaysia in their $350m joint venture hotel project.

Desai & Diwanji and Tatva Legal, with Davis Polk & Wardwell and Richards Butler advised on private equity house Quadrangle Capital and others’ $300m investment in India’s second largest operator of telecoms towers Tower Vision India.

Khaitan & Co and Naik Naik & Co have advised multiplex owner INOX Leisure in acquiring a 43.28 per cent stake of the promoter group of rival multiplex chain Fame India for Rs 66.34 crore.

Mumbai firm Gagrats and Link Legal have advised on the joint venture (JV) between Jet Airways and GMR Hyderabad International Airport and Malaysian Aerospace Engineering.

Wadia Ghandy Mumbai and Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi have helped GTL Infrastructure in acquiring Aircel’s telecom tower business in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 8,400 crore ($1.84bn).

Desai & Diwanji acted on 24 M&A deals in the 2009 calendar year, placing it at the top of data provider mergermarket’s M&A league table by volume. Amarchand Mangaldas topped the table by value, having advised on M&A deals worth $6.4bn in 2009, while Khaitan & Co and AZB & Partners also gave a strong showing.

Crawford Bayley and Khaitan & Co have advised on the $400m (Rs 1,900 crore) takeover of listed Chennai pharmaceutical company Orchid Chemical & Pharmaceutical by US pharma major Hospira.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Trilegal have represented Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) and Heineken International respectively on brokering the agreement to allow United Breweries (UB) to make Heineken brand beer in India.