Allow Indian infrastructure firms to access medium term foreign debt: Centre tells RBI

(India Times, New Delhi, 27 December 2015) The government has asked the Reserve Bank of India to reconsider its external commercial borrowing (ECB) norms to allow foreign currency debt to infrastructure sector for medium term also. Sources said Transport and Highways Secretary Chhibber has written that "many export credit agencies are required to follow OECD arrangements wherein a member is not permitted to extend export credit beyond a period of 10 years for all categories (except non nuclear power plants) for a category II country such as India, whereas the revised ECB framework allow Indian infrastructure companies to access long term foreign currency borrowings with a minimum average maturity of 10 years (under Track II)".