Introduction
External commercial borrowings are loans made to the Indian borrowers by non-resident lenders in convertible foreign exchange. It’s an instrument through which Indian borrowers avail loans from a foreign entity or from foreign sources.
It may be in form of commercial loans in the form of bank loans, seller loans, manufacturer loans, securitized securities (e.g. floating rate notes and fixed-rate bonds, non-convertible, partly convertible, or partially convertible preferred shares) from non-resident borrowers with a minimum average maturity of 3 years.
Indian companies are permitted to use the ECB either for fresh investment or to extend capacity. The generated funds can not be used for the following purpose:-
- Real estate investments
- Capital market investment.
- for Working capital uses, except for foreign equity holder
- or General corporate uses
- Loan repayment (of home country)
- Lending to other entity for the above activity
ECB can be granted through :
- Automatic route
- Approval route
Reporting compliance for ECB borrower
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Particulars
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Form
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Reported to
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The Time duration of reporting
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Under both route loan allotment number
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Form 83(in duplicate certified by Secretary of the Company or Chartered Accountant) No need to submit a loan agreement
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Designated authorized dealer bank
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Within 7 days from the signing of the loan agreement
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Monthly return
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Form ECB2 (along with CA certificate) regarding use of ECB
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Designated AD Bank to Division of Statistical Analysis and Computer Services (DESACS), Division of Balance of Payments Statistics, RBI.
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Within 7 days from the end of each month
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Under approval route
ECB application
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Form ECB
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Designated AD bank to the Chief Manager-in-Charge, Department of Foreign Exchange, RBI, Division of Central Office ECBs, Mumbai.
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In case of the full conversion of ECB into equity
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FC-GPR
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RBI regional office
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Within 7 days form the closer of the month for which it relates
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In case of partial conversion of ECB
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FC-GPR for converted portion and for remaining ECB-2
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Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM), RBI
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Within 7 days form the closer of the month for which it relates
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Changes in
Repayment schedule
Currency of borrowing
AD bank
Change in name of the borrower company
Recognized lender
Cancellation of LRN
Change in end-use of ECB
âž²Reduction in the amount of ECB
Reduction in all cost of ECB
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Form 83
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To DSIM, RBI through AD bank
Prior approval of AD bank is necessary
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Within 7 days from the date of change effect
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