External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy β Rationalisation and Liberalisation
Show AI Summary
External Commercial Borrowings liberalisation introduces uniform all in cost ceiling, expanded eligible borrowers, and standardized negative end uses.
External Commercial Borrowings policy is reformed to set a uniform all-in-cost ceiling tied to prescribed benchmark rates, raise the liability to equity ratio to 7:1 for ECBs from direct foreign equity holders under the automatic route (with a small value exception), expand eligible borrowers to include regulated Housing Finance Companies and Port Trusts (with 100% hedging for Track I) and permit certain INR denominated ECBs for MRO and freight forwarding companies, and to replace track specific positive/negative lists with a single negative end use list including prohibitions on real estate investment (subject to specified exceptions), capital market and equity investments, certain corporate uses for Tracks I and III unless raised from equity holders or group companies with minimum five year maturity, and on lending for prohibited activities.