Fully Accessible Route enables unrestricted non-resident investment in specified government securities and reporting obligations apply.
The Fully Accessible Route permits persons resident outside India to invest in Reserve Bank notified Government of India dated securities without quantitative limits, exempts such investments from specified limits in prior A.P. (DIR Series) circulars, and treats existing eligible holdings as FAR investments. FPIs, NRIs, OCIs and other permitted entities may invest under existing arrangements; other eligible investors may use International Central Securities Depositories as notified. FPIs must realign MTF investments within one year, and all FAR investments remain governed by FEMA and RBI directions.

FPI investment limit increase raises corporate bond ceiling while government security caps await separate notification.
FPI holdings in corporate bonds are increased to a ceiling of 15% of outstanding stock for FY 2020-21, with revised half yearly rounded limits specified for Apr-Sep 2020 and Oct 2020-Mar 2021. Revisions to limits for Central Government securities and State Development Loans will be advised separately and current limits remain applicable until then. Authorized Dealer Category I banks must notify their constituents; directions issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Non-deliverable rupee derivatives permitted for authorised banks to transact with non-residents via IBUs and branches.
Banks in India holding an Authorised Dealer Category 1 licence and operating IFSC Banking Units may offer non deliverable derivative contracts involving the Rupee to persons not resident in India. A Non deliverable derivative contract is defined as a Rupee foreign exchange derivative with a non resident counterparty settled without delivery of Rupee. Such transactions may be undertaken through IBUs, Indian branches, or foreign branches, and AD Category 1 banks with IBUs may transact NDDCs with other IBUs and overseas banks.

FDI caps in scheduled air services limited under automatic route; larger foreign airline investment requires government approval.
FDI in Civil Aviation allows automatic foreign investment for airports and specified ancillary services; scheduled air transport remains subject to an automatic route up to a prescribed limit with higher participation requiring Government approval. Foreign airlines may invest in cargo, helicopter and seaplane operators and in air transport companies up to the prescribed ceiling subject to Government approval, SEBI compliance, Indian registration and control requirements, security clearances for foreign nationals, and clearances for imported technical equipment; Air India remains subject to the prescribed cap and Aircraft Rules compliance.

ACU settlement currency expansion: participants may settle payments in ACU Dollar, ACU Euro or ACU Yen under FEMA directions.
ACU settlement mechanism now includes ACU Dollar, ACU Euro and ACU Yen, effective March 6, 2020; participants may settle transactions in any of these units and AD Category I banks may open and maintain corresponding ACU Dollar, ACU Euro and ACU Japanese Yen accounts with correspondent banks to settle eligible payments, pursuant to amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Manner of Receipt and Payment) Regulations and an amended Memorandum of Procedure for channelling ACU transactions.

Foreign investment caps in insurance updated; equity limits and control conditions govern insurers and intermediaries under automatic route.
The Press Note revises the insurance-sector FDI framework: Indian insurance companies are limited to forty-nine percent total foreign investment, allowed via the automatic route subject to IRDAI verification, Insurance Act compliance and RBI pricing rules for increases; foreign portfolio investment follows FEMA and SEBI FPI regulations. Intermediaries (brokers, consultants, corporate agents, TPAs, surveyors and loss assessors) may have full foreign equity under the automatic route but must satisfy corporate form, resident Indian senior officer, dividend repatriation permission, disclosure and board/management composition requirements prescribed by regulators.

Line of Credit support enables export financing with minimum Indian content and Export Declaration Form compliance.
Exim Bank's Government of India supported Line of Credit to Suriname finances rehabilitation of a milk processing plant, requiring at least 75 per cent of contract value to be supplied from India and permitting up to 25 per cent procurement abroad. The agreement is effective from January 27, 2020 with a terminal utilization period of 60 months after project completion. Shipments must be declared in the Export Declaration Form; no agency commission is payable under the LoC though exporters may use own resources or EEFC balances after realization, subject to AD Category I bank compliance and FEMA directions.

Merchanting trade compliance: revised rules require single bank routing, documentary verification, and strict KYC/AML oversight.
Revised MTT guidelines require that goods must not enter the Domestic Tariff Area, permit limited transformation with documentary proof, require compliance with export/import rules for each leg, and mandate that the entire MTT be routed through a single AD bank which must verify documents, ensure KYC/AML compliance, and maintain retrievable records for inspection.

Voluntary Retention Route expansion permits reclassification of general FPI debt investments and allows debt-only ETFs under VRR.
The VRR for FPIs is relaxed by increasing the investment cap, permitting FPIs to transfer investments from the General Investment Limit into VRR at their discretion, and allowing FPIs to invest in Exchange Traded Funds that invest only in debt instruments; the changes update prior Directions and are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act without prejudice to other required approvals.

Short-term investment limits for FPIs increased allowing greater allocations in government and corporate debt and expanded exemptions.
Revision increases the short-term investment limit for FPIs in Central Government Securities (including Treasury Bills), State Development Loans and corporate bonds to permit a larger share of an FPI's total investment in those instruments. Exemptions from the short-term and issue limits that applied to Security Receipts are extended to debt issued by Asset Reconstruction Companies and debt of entities under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process pursuant to an approved resolution plan.

Rupee derivatives at IFSCs permitted with non resident trading and mandatory settlement outside the Indian Rupee under RBI directions.
Rupee derivatives are permitted to be listed and traded on recognised IFSC stock exchanges under RBI directions, with non resident participation by default and resident participation only with RBI permission. Contracts involving the Rupee must be settled in a currency other than the Indian Rupee, with the FBIL Reference rate as the settlement price where available; contract specifications are set by recognised exchanges in consultation with SEBI. Trading is subject to margins, SEBI position limits and RBI authorisation requirements, and the RBI may modify eligibility, limits or margins in the public interest.

Hedging reporting requirement: banks must file quarterly XBRL reports on overseas commodity and freight hedges; "Nil" if none.
Banks must file quarterly XBRL-format reports on overseas commodity price and freight hedging transactions to the Financial Markets Regulation Department via the designated XBRL portal in the format in Annexure I; if there are no transactions, a "Nil" report must be submitted. This substitutes Paragraph 10 of the 2018 Directions and is issued under the foreign exchange regulatory framework without prejudice to other legal permissions.

Inter bank and customer forex trading beyond onshore market hours now permissible for authorised dealer Category I banks.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks may voluntarily undertake customer (residents and non residents) and inter bank foreign exchange transactions beyond onshore market hours, executed out of their Indian books or through overseas branches and subsidiaries, pursuant to an amendment to Part C of the Master Direction-Risk Management and Inter Bank Dealings; this permission is subject to any other statutory permissions or approvals required.

Line of Credit arrangement enables export finance for solar projects subject to export declaration and FEMA compliance.
Government-supported Line of Credit by Exim Bank to Banco Exterior De Cuba finances export of eligible goods and services for photovoltaic solar parks, requiring at least 75% Indian-sourced content, with shipments declared in the Export Declaration Form; no agency commission payable under the LoC though exporters may remit commission from their own funds or EEFC balances subject to realization and AD Category I compliance, issued under FEMA.