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DRAFTPRUDENTIALFRAMEWORKFORIRACP2D1F0D1A32D1442F989223014E803B05
DRAFTPRUDENTIALFRAMEWORKFORIRACP2D1F0D1A32D1442F989223014E803B05
RBI/DOR/2024-25/
DOR.STR.REC. /21.04.048/2024-25 May 03, 2024
All Commercial Banks (including Small Finance Banks but excluding Payments Banks,
Local Area Banks and Regional Rural Banks)
All Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks
All All-India Financial Institutions
All Non-Banking Financial Companies
Dear Sir/Madam,
Yours faithfully,
(Vaibhav Chaturvedi)
Chief General Manager
Chapter 1: Preliminary
A. Preamble
1. These Directions are issued to provide a harmonised prudential framework for
financing of projects in Infrastructure, Non-Infrastructure and Commercial Real
Estate sectors by regulated entities (REs). These Directions also lay down
revised regulatory dispensations for changes in the date of commencement of
commercial operations (DCCO) of such projects in the backdrop of a review of
the extant instructions and analysis of the risks inherent in such financing.
B. Powers Exercised
2. In exercise of the powers conferred by Sections 21 and 35A of Banking
Regulation Act, 1949 read with Section 56 of the Act ibid; Chapter IIIB of the
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934; Section 3 of the Factoring Regulation Act,
2011, read with Section 31A and Section 6 of the Act ibid; Section 30A of the
National Housing Bank Act, 1987, read with Section 32 and Section 33 of the
Act ibid; the Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter called the Reserve Bank), being
satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in public interest to do so, hereby,
issues these Directions hereinafter specified.
D. Effective Date
4. These Directions shall come into force with immediate effect.
E. Applicability
5. The provisions of these Directions shall apply to the following REs, collectively
to be referred to as ‘Lenders’ hereafter:
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c. Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks
NBFCs which are required to comply with the Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS)
shall also be guided by the instructions contained in ‘Master Direction – Reserve
Bank of India (Non-banking Financial Company – Scale Based Regulations)
Directions, 2023’, regarding provisioning and other requirements.
F. Definitions
6. In these Directions, unless the context otherwise requires
Provided that in the case of CRE projects, DCCO will be the date on
which Occupancy Certificate from the competent authority is obtained.
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per cent of total project cost becomes legally binding on all stakeholders
and all applicable approvals/clearances for implementing/constructing
the project are obtained.
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This type of financing is usually for large, complex and expensive
installations such as power plants, chemical processing plants, mines,
transportation infrastructure, environment, telecoms etc. Project finance
may take the form of financing the construction of a new capital
installation, or refinancing of an existing installation, with or without
improvements.
7. All other expressions unless defined herein shall have the same meaning as
have been assigned to them under the ’Master Circular – Prudential norms on
Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to
Advances’ dated April 2, 2024 and circular ‘Prudential Framework for
Resolution of Stressed Assets’ dated June 7, 2019 as updated/amended from
time to time or Glossary of Terms published by Reserve Bank or as used in
commercial parlance, as the case may be.
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Chapter 2: General Guidelines
G. Phases of Projects
8. For the purpose of application of prudential guidelines contained in these
Directions, Projects shall be broadly divided into three phases namely,
(i) Design phase – This is the first phase which starts with the conception of
the project and includes, inter-alia, designing, planning, obtaining all
applicable clearances/approvals till its financial closure.
(ii) Construction phase – This is the second phase which begins after the
financial closure and ends on the day before the DCCO.
(iii) Operational Phase –This is the last phase which starts with
commencement of commercial operation by the project.
10. For any project, all mandatory pre-requisites should be in place before financial
closure. An indicative list of such pre-requisites includes availability of
encumbrance free land and/or right of way, environmental clearance, legal
clearance, regulatory clearances, etc., as applicable for the project. However,
for infrastructure projects under PPP model, land availability to the extent of
50% or more can be considered sufficient by lenders to achieve financial
closure.
11. For all projects financed by the lenders, it must be ensured that financial closure
has been achieved and DCCO is clearly spelt out and documented prior to
disbursement of funds. Additionally, lenders shall ensure that disbursal is
proportionate to the stages of completion of the project as also to the progress
in equity infusion, as agreed. In case of PPP projects, disbursement of funds
should begin only after declaration of the Appointed date of the project. The
project specific disbursement schedule vis-à-vis stage of completion of the
project shall be prescribed by the lenders. Further, the lender’s Independent
Engineer (LIE)/Architect must certify the stages of completion of the project.
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12. The dispensations available under this framework shall be available only to
those lenders who have extended finance to such project loans based on a
common agreement between the debtor and the lender(s).
Provided that the lenders shall put in place a framework to engage the
LIE and conduct a Techno-Economic Viability (TEV) study to evaluate
the estimated expenditure for the project, economic viability, and
bankability of these projects.
15. Notwithstanding the above, post DCCO, lenders may acquire from or sell
exposures to other lenders (new/existing) in the multiple banking/consortium
arrangements, and in compliance with guidelines contained in the Master
Direction on Transfer of Loan Exposures as updated from time to time.
16. The financing agreement shall generally not allow any provision for moratorium
on repayments beyond DCCO period and repayment structure shall be
realistically designed to factor in the lower initial cash flows.
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17. The original or revised repayment tenor, including the moratorium period, if any,
shall not exceed 85% of the economic life of the project.
18. A positive net present value (NPV) is a prerequisite for any Project financed by
lenders. Any subsequent diminution in NPV during the construction phase,
either due to changes in projected cash flows, project life-period or any other
relevant factor which may lead to credit impairment, shall be construed as a
credit event. Accordingly, lenders shall get the project NPV independently re-
evaluated every year.
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Chapter 3: Resolution and Prudential Norms
I. Resolution of Stress
19. It is expected that the lenders monitor the build-up of stress in a project on an
ongoing basis and initiate a resolution plan well in advance. Occurrence of a
credit event, during the construction phase, with any of the lenders in the project
finance arrangement, within or outside the consortium, shall trigger a collective
resolution in terms of the Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed
Assets dated June 7, 2019 (‘Prudential Framework’). The reference to
‘default’ in the Prudential Framework shall be read as ‘credit event’ for the
purpose of project finance accounts, unless specified otherwise.
20. Any such Credit Event shall be reported to the Central Repository of Information
on Large Credit (CRILC) by the lenders in the prescribed weekly as well as the
CRILC-Main report in compliance with the extant instructions, as applicable.
Lender(s) in a consortium/MBA shall also report occurrence of such credit event
to all other members of the consortium/MBA.
21. All lenders shall undertake a prima facie review of the debtor account within
thirty days from the date of such credit event (“Review Period”). For accounts
where a credit event is already existent as on the date of these Directions, the
review period shall commence immediately. The conduct of the lenders during
this “Review Period” including signing of Inter Creditor Agreement (ICA), and
the implementation of a resolution plan (RP), where required, shall be guided
by the provisions of the Prudential Framework, unless specified otherwise in
these Directions.
(ii) the new capital structure and/or changes in the financing agreement get
duly reflected in the books of all the lenders and the debtor;
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23. A project finance account classified as ‘standard’ in the books of REs shall
continue to be classified as ‘standard’ on account of extension of DCCO and
consequential shift in repayment schedule for equal or shorter duration
(including the start date and end date of revised repayment schedule) under
the following conditions:
24. In cases where exogenous and endogenous risks materialise together, the
longer of the permissible deferments of DCCO as given in para 23 above may
be availed of. However, the cumulative deferment of DCCO for any project on
account of reasons specified in paragraph ‘b’ above (occurring concurrently or
otherwise), shall not exceed 3 years and 2 years respectively for infrastructure
and non-infrastructure projects (including commercial real estate projects).
Extension of DCCO beyond these limits would not qualify for asset classification
dispensation.
25. Any change in the repayment schedule of a project loan caused due to an
increase in the project outlay on account of increase in scope and size of the
project, shall continue to be classified as ‘standard’ if:
(i) The increase in scope and size of the project takes place before
commencement of commercial operations of the existing project.
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(ii) The rise in project cost excluding any cost-overrun in respect of the
original project is 25% or more of the original outlay as the case may be
(Illustration given in Annex 1)
(iii) lenders re-assess the viability of the project before approving the
enhancement of scope and fixing a fresh DCCO.
(iv) On re-rating, (if already rated) the new rating is not below the
previous rating by more than one notch. If the project debt was unrated
at the time of increase in scope or size, then it should be rated
investment grade upon such increase in scope or size.
26. In cases where lenders have specifically sanctioned a ‘Standby Credit Facility
(SBCF) at the time of initial financial closure to fund cost overruns arising on
account of extension in DCCO, they may fund cost overruns as per the agreed
terms and conditions up to a maximum of 10% of the original project cost.
27. However, in cases where SBCF was not sanctioned at the time of financial
closure or sanctioned but not renewed subsequently, lenders may fund cost
overruns arising on account of extension in DCCO as per the agreed terms and
conditions, up to a maximum of 10% of the original project cost (excluding IDC),
provided the additional funding shall be priced at a premium to what would have
been applicable on a pre-sanctioned SBCF. Lenders shall ensure that the loan-
contracts shall ab-initio specify the additional risk premium to be charged on
such SBCF, which may be revised upwards based on actual risk assessment
at the time of sanction of such facilities. The additional risk premium shall be
subject to a floor of 1.00 per cent.
Provided that the provisions to fund cost overrun in terms of this paragraph
shall only be available for infrastructure projects.
28. Post-RP, financial parameters like D/E ratio, DSCR. etc., and external credit
rating, if any, shall remain unchanged or enhanced in favour of lenders.
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29. If the resolution plan involving change in DCCO is not successfully implemented
in terms of paragraph 22 above, within 180 days from the end of review period,
conforming to the stipulations laid down in these Directions, then the account
shall be downgraded to non-performing asset (NPA) immediately.
L. Income Recognition
31. Lenders may recognise income on accrual basis in respect of loans to projects
under implementation, which are classified as ‘standard’. In cases involving
DCCO deferred accounts which are classified as ‘standard’ and where there is
a moratorium on payment of interest and principal, lenders shall book income
only on cash basis beyond original DCCO, considering the high risk involved in
such accounts. For non-performing accounts, income recognition shall be as
per extant instructions contained in Master Circular - Prudential norms on
Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to
Advances dated April 02, 2024, as amended from time to time.
34. Operational Phase: Once the project reaches the ‘Operational phase’, the
above provisions specified at paragraph 33 above, can be reduced to 2.5% of
the funded outstanding. This can be further reduced to 1% of the funded
outstanding provided that the project has (a) a positive net operating cash flow
that is sufficient to cover current repayment obligation to all lenders, and (b)
total long-term debt of the project with the lenders has declined by at least 20%
from the outstanding at the time of achieving DCCO.
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N. Provisioning for DCCO deferred accounts
35. For accounts which have availed DCCO deferment as per Part J of this
Chapter and are classified as ‘standard’, and wherein the cumulative
deferments are more than 2 years and 1 year for infrastructure and non-
infrastructure projects respectively, lenders shall maintain additional specific
provisions of 2.5% over and above the applicable standard asset provision as
at paragraph 33 above. This additional provision of 2.5% shall be reversed on
commencement of commercial operation.
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Chapter 4: Miscellaneous
40. Lenders shall make appropriate disclosures in their financial statements, under
‘Notes to Accounts’, relating to RPs implemented. The format for disclosure is
given in Annex 3.
(i) 2 per cent – with effect from March 31, 2025 (spread over the four quarters
of 2024-25)
(ii) 3.50 per cent – with effect from March 31, 2026 (spread over the four
quarters of 2025-26)
(iii) 5.00 per cent – with effect from March 31, 2027 (spread over the four
quarters of 2026-27)
42. All other provisions of these Directions shall be complied with immediate effect.
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T. Penal Consequences for non-compliance
43. Non-compliance with any of the provisions contained in these Directions shall
attract supervisory and enforcement action as applicable.
U. Repeal Provisions
44. With the issue of these Directions, the instructions/guidelines contained in
Annex 4, stand repealed.
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Annex 1
Illustration 1
b. Cost Overrun 2%
The increase in cost attributable to change in scope is ₹180 crore (18%) only. Since
rise in cost on account of change in scope is 18%, which is less than 25%, no asset
classification benefit shall be available
Illustration 2
The increase in cost attributable to change in scope is ₹300 crore (30%). Since rise
in cost on account of change in scope is 30%, which is more than 25%, asset
classification benefit shall be available
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Annex 2
1 Debtor Profile
Date of Change, reason for change, revised DCCO, revised project debt,
revised project total cost, increase in cost, cost overrun, percentage of total
increase financed by equity, percentage of total increase financed by debt,
revised D/E, revised DSCR, revised repayment tenor, revised repayment start
date, revised repayment frequency, revised external credit rating
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Annex 3
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Out of ‘4’, number of accounts in respect of which
resolution process involving extension in DCCO has
been invoked due to litigation
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Annex 4
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