RBI Update- Review of Regulatory Framework for IDF-NBFCs

Infrastructure Debt Fund-NBFCs (IDF-NBFCs) will now be required to have a net owned fund (NOF) of at least Rs 300 crore. Besides, they should have a capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of a minimum of 15 per cent (with a minimum Tier 1 capital of 10 per cent). An IDF-NBFC is a company registered as NBFC to facilitate the flow of long-term debt into infrastructure projects. It raises resources through the issue of rupee or dollar-denominated bonds of minimum 5-year maturity. Only Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFC) can sponsor IDF-NBFCs. \"IDF-NBFC shall raise funds through the issue of either rupee or dollar-denominated bonds of minimum five-year maturity,\" With a view to facilitating better asset-liability management (ALM), IDF-NBFCs can raise funds through shorter-tenor bonds and commercial papers (CPs) from the domestic market to the extent of up to 10 per cent of their total outstanding borrowings. Under the earlier guidelines, an IDF-NBFC was required to be sponsored by a bank or an NBFC-Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC-IFC). The requirement of a sponsor for an IDF-NBFC has now been withdrawn and shareholders of IDF-NBFCs would be subjected to scrutiny as applicable to other NBFCs, including NBFC-IFCs. All NBFCs would be eligible to sponsor IDF-MFs with prior approval of RBI subject to certain conditions.

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