Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd, a project and infrastructure finance company, has sought the removal of the curb on accessing external commercial borrowings (ECBs).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had barred the access of finance companies including banks to ECBs in November 2003.
Srei director Sunil Kanoria said the company has already tied up US$100m ECB for infrastructure and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) but cannot proceed due to the restriction.
“The FMO Netherlands, owned by the Dutch government, German government enterprise DEG and Belgium Investment Overseas, the investment arm of the Belgium government, have sanctioned US$100m to us already. The average cost of capital is around 6 per cent,” he added.
Kanoria said Srei had at present around US$90m raised through ECBs in its basket.
