Financing And Investing In Infrastructure Coursera Quiz Answers

Scenario: You are analyzing a toll road PPP. The government will pay no availability fee; the concessionaire earns revenue only from tolls. Traffic is forecast at 10,000 vehicles/day. Construction is 3 years. The DSCR covenant is 1.3x.

Q15: If actual traffic drops to 6,000 vehicles/day due to a new rail line, what is the most likely immediate outcome?

Answer: C) The project enters a cash trap.

Q16: To salvage the project, the sponsors propose a "toll increase." Who typically has the right to approve this?

Answer: C) The government.

  • Hybrid instruments: preferred equity, convertible instruments
  • Government grants, viability gap funding, guarantees, and subsidies to make projects bankable
  • Offtake contracts and revenue support: power purchase agreements (PPAs), availability payments, shadow tolls, minimum revenue guarantees

    • Q4: In a non-recourse project finance deal, if the SPV defaults on its loan, the lender can:

    Answer: C) Take control of the project’s assets and cash flows, but not the sponsors' other assets.

    Q5: Calculate the simplest Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR). If an infrastructure project has Net Operating Income (NOI) of $150M and annual debt payments (principal + interest) of $100M, what is the DSCR?

    Answer: 1.5x

    Q6: In the "waterfall" payment structure of project finance, who gets paid FIRST?

    Answer: C) Operations & Maintenance (O&M) contractors.

    Infrastructure is the backbone of modern society—roads, bridges, energy grids, and telecom towers. However, financing these multi-billion dollar assets is radically different from standard corporate finance. In corporate finance, if a company defaults, you seize the company's assets. In infrastructure (Project Finance), the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) has no other assets except the bridge itself.

    The Coursera course "Financing and Investing in Infrastructure" is widely considered the gold standard for understanding Project Finance, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) , and Risk Allocation. But the quizzes are notoriously tricky because they test specific financial jargon. Scenario: You are analyzing a toll road PPP

    Below, we break down the modules, the likely quiz questions, and the rationale behind the correct answers.

    While exact answers vary, these examples show the logic required to solve them.

    Q1: Which of the following is a characteristic of Project Finance?

    Q2: A project generates $100M in Year 1. Debt Service is $80M. What is the DSCR? Answer: C) The project enters a cash trap

    Q3: If the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is 10% and the IRR is 8%, should you invest?

    Q4: What is the purpose of a "Debt Reserve Account" (DSRA)?