What changed
The definition of infrastructure sector for ECB purposes now includes cold storage or cold room facilities, including farm-level pre-cooling, for preserving agricultural and allied produce, marine products, and meat. This expands the previous list of eight sectors to nine.
What it means for you
Banks can now process ECB applications for cold storage projects under the same infrastructure sector benefits, including the USD 500 million automatic route limit per company per year. This opens up cheaper foreign borrowing for agri-logistics and cold chain projects, potentially boosting rural infrastructure and reducing post-harvest losses.
What you must do
- Update internal ECB policy manuals to include cold storage as an eligible infrastructure sector.
- Inform customers in agri-logistics, cold chain, and food processing about this new ECB eligibility.
- Ensure all other ECB conditions (borrower, lender, end-use, maturity, reporting) remain unchanged for these projects.
Who it affects
AD Category-I banks, Companies in cold storage and cold chain logistics, Agricultural and marine product processors and exporters, Infrastructure lenders and borrowers
Does this change the USD 500 million automatic route limit?
No, the USD 500 million limit per company per financial year under the automatic route remains unchanged.
What types of cold storage facilities are now covered?
Cold storage or cold room facilities, including farm-level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products, and meat.