Current · Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2013-14/270 · issued 18 Sep 2013 · ~2 min read
Quick answerRBI has expanded the definition of infrastructure sector for ECB purposes, aligning it with the government's Harmonised Master List. New sub-sectors include energy (oil/gas storage, city gas), communication (towers, broadband), transport (inland waterways, urban public transport), water/sanitation (irrigation, storm drainage), and social/commercial infrastructure (hospitals, hotels, cold chains).
The rule, in the simplest words
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expanded the definition of [infrastructure sector] for External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) to include new sub-sectors like [energy], [communication], [transport], [water and sanitation], and [social and commercial infrastructure].
New sub-sectors include [oil and gas storage], [city gas distribution], [telecommunication towers], [inland waterways], [urban public transport], [hospitals], and [hotels] with a certain investment threshold.
The expanded definition aligns with the government's Harmonised Master List, reducing ambiguity and allowing banks to process ECB applications for a wider range of projects.
How it plays out — a real example
A relationship manager at a Category-I Authorised Dealer Bank in Mumbai can now help a client who wants to borrow money from a foreign lender to build a new hospital, as hospitals are included in the expanded definition of infrastructure sector for ECB purposes. The relationship manager will need to update their internal eligibility checklists and ensure the client meets all other ECB norms. This change can potentially increase cross-border borrowing volumes and provide more opportunities for corporate borrowers seeking ECB for infrastructure projects.
What changed
The definition of infrastructure sector for ECB has been broadened from the existing list (power, telecommunication, railways, road including bridges, sea port and airport, industrial parks, urban infrastructure, mining/exploration/refining, cold storage) to a more detailed list covering energy, communication, transport, water/sanitation, mining/exploration/refining, and social/commercial infrastructure. New inclusions like oil/gas storage, telecommunication towers, inland waterways, urban public transport, hospitals, and hotels (with investment thresholds) now qualify for ECB.
What it means for you
Banks can now process ECB applications for a wider range of projects, potentially increasing cross-border borrowing volumes. Lenders must update their internal eligibility checklists and train staff on the expanded sub-sectors. The alignment with the government's master list reduces ambiguity, but banks should verify that borrowers meet all other ECB norms unchanged.
What you must do
Update internal ECB policy documents to reflect the expanded infrastructure definition.
Train relationship managers and credit teams on new eligible sub-sectors like city gas, telecom towers, and hotels.
Review existing ECB applications to ensure they align with the updated list.
Communicate the changes to corporate clients who may now qualify for ECB.
Who it affects
Category-I Authorised Dealer Banks, Corporate borrowers seeking ECB for infrastructure projects, Project finance teams in banks
❓ Common questions
Are hotels with investment below Rs. 200 crore eligible?
Only hotels with fixed capital investment of Rs. 200 crore and above, or convention centres with Rs. 300 crore and above, or three-star or higher category classified hotels located outside cities with population of more than 1 million are eligible.
When did this circular take effect?
The instructions came into effect immediately from the date of the circular, September 18, 2013, subject to review based on experience.
📜 Read the original circular — full text as issued by RBI
RBI/2013-14/270
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 48
September 18, 2013
To
All Category - I Authorised Dealer Banks
Madam / Sir,
External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy – Liberalisation of definition of Infrastructure Sector
Attention of Authorised Dealer Category – I (AD Category – I) banks is invited to the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 5 dated August 1, 2005 , A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 20 dated October 8, 2008 and A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 38 dated March 02, 2010 relating to External Commercial Borrowings (ECB).
2. The existing definition of infrastructure sector for the purpose of availing ECB includes: (i) power, (ii) telecommunication, (iii) railways, (iv) road including bridges, (v) sea port and airport (vi) industrial parks (vii) urban infrastructure (water supply, sanitation and sewage projects), (viii) mining, exploration and refining, (ix) cold storage or cold room facility, including farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products and meat.
3. Taking into account the Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure sub-sectors and Institutional Mechanism for its updation approved by Government of India vide Notification F. No. 13/06/2009-INF dated March 27, 2012, it has been decided to expand the existing definition for infrastructure sector for the purpose of availing ECB. The expanded infrastructure sector and sub-sectors for the purpose of ECB include:
(a) Energy which will include (i) electricity generation, (ii) electricity transmission, (iii) electricity distribution, (iv) oil pipelines, (v) oil/gas/liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility (includes strategic storage of crude oil) and (vi) gas pipelines (includes city gas distribution network);
(b) Communication which will include (i) mobile telephony services / companies providing cellular services, (ii) fixed network telecommunication (includes optic fibre / cable networks which provide broadband / internet) and (iii) telecommunication towers;
(c) Transport which will include (i) railways (railway track, tunnel, viaduct, bridges and includes supporting terminal infrastructure such as loading / unloading terminals, stations and buildings), (ii) roads and bridges, (iii) ports, (iv) inland waterways, (v) airport and (vi) urban public transport (except rolling stock in case of urban road transport);
(d) Water and sanitation which will include (i) water supply pipelines, (ii) solid waste management, (iii) water treatment plants, (iv) sewage projects (sewage collection, treatment and disposal system), (v) irrigation (dams, channels, embankments, etc.) and (vi) storm water drainage system;
(e) (i) mining, (ii) exploration and (iii) refining;
(f) Social and commercial infrastructure which will include (i) hospitals (capital stock and includes medical colleges and para medical training institutes), (ii) Hotel Sector which will include hotels with fixed capital investment of Rs. 200 crore and above, convention centres with fixed capital investment of Rs. 300 crore and above and three star or higher category classified hotels located outside cities with population of more than 1 million (fixed capital investment is excluding of land value), (iii) common infrastructure for industrial parks, SEZs, tourism facilities, (iv) fertilizer (capital investment), (v) post harvest storage infrastructure for agriculture and horticulture produce including cold storage, (vi) soil testing laboratories and (vii) cold chain (includes cold room facility for farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage or agriculture and allied produce, marine products and meat.
4. All other aspects of ECB policy shall remain unchanged.
5. These instructions shall come in to effect immediately and are subject to review based on the experience gained in this regard.
6. Necessary amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending in Foreign Exchange) Regulations, 2000 dated May 3, 2000 have been issued vide Notification No. FEMA 281/2013-RB dated July 19, 2013 notified vide G.S.R. No. 627(E) dated September 12, 2013.
7. AD Category – I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers.
8. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals required, if any, under any other law.
Yours faithfully
Rudra Narayan Kar
Chief General Manager-in-Charge
Reproduced for reference with acknowledgment — Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2013-14/270 · issued 18 Sep 2013. The plain-English explanation above is BankPulse’s own independent summary.
Train relationship managers and credit teams on new eligible sub-sectors like city gas, telecom towers, and hotels.
Review existing ECB applications to ensure they align with the updated list.
📜 Compliance
Update internal ECB policy documents to reflect the expanded infrastructure definition.
Communicate the changes to corporate clients who may now qualify for ECB.
Grouped from the action items above — a single circular may involve more than one team.
Worked example & action-note template
Example: if you are a Compliance officer at a bank this circular applies to (Category-I Authorised Dealer Banks, Corporate borrowers seeking ECB for infrastructure projects, Project finance teams in banks), your first concrete step on “ECB Policy: Infrastructure Definition Expanded” is: “Update internal ECB policy documents to reflect the expanded infrastructure definition.” (RBI issued this 18 Sep 2013).
Action required: Update internal ECB policy documents to reflect the expanded infrastructure definition.
Action required: Train relationship managers and credit teams on new eligible sub-sectors like city gas, telecom towers, and hotels.
Action required: Review existing ECB applications to ensure they align with the updated list.
Action required: Communicate the changes to corporate clients who may now qualify for ECB.
Owner: ____________ Target date: ____________
Board/committee approval needed? Y / N
Evidence filed in compliance register on: ____________
Built only from this circular’s own published fields — not legal advice; always confirm against the official RBI source.
💬 Banker Discussion
Discuss this circular with fellow bankers — reply, upvote what helps, report what doesn’t belong. Be professional; no client data. Views are the commenter’s own, not BankPulse’s.
BankPulse Compliance Evidence Pack — generated 03 Aug 2026 · status cross-checked against RBI’s official withdrawal register (refreshed weekly). Official RBI source: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=8434&Mode=0 — Plain-English summary by BankPulse (bankpulse.ai), reviewed by our expert reviewer, CA Amit Jain. Independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India; is our own plain-English paraphrase, not RBI’s original wording.
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