SCHEDULE I - Regulation 6(1) - Borrowings in Foreign Exchange under the Automatic Route - Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending In Foreign Exchange ) Regulations, 2000

SCHEDULE I [(See Regulation 6(1)] Borrowings in Foreign Exchange under the Automatic Route (1) Borrowing in Foreign Exchange up to US$ 500 Million or its equivalent The borrowing in foreign exchange by a person resident in India under the Automatic Route is subject to the terms and conditions set out in this schedule. ( i) Eligibility 1 (a). Any company registered under the Companies Act, 1956, other than a financial intermediary (such as a bank, financial institution, housing finance company and a non-banking finance company) is eligible to borrow under this Schedule. 15 [ provided in case the entity is under investigation/ adjudications/appeals by the law enforcing agencies, for violation of any of the provision of the regulations under the Act, it shall indicate to the Authorized Dealers (ADs) about pendency of investigations/adjudications/appeals, while availing foreign currency borrowing. ]] 11 [(b) Non Government Organisations and Micro Finance Institutions engaged in micro-finance activities may borrow in foreign exchange under this Schedule under such terms and conditions as specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time : 16 [ provided in case the entity is under investigation/ adjudications/appeals by the law enforcing agencies, for violation of any of the provision of the regulations under the Act, it shall indicate to the Authorized Dealers (ADs) about pendency of investigations/adjudications/appeals, while availing foreign currency borrowing. ] ] (c) Any other entity as specified by the Reserve Bank. 17 [ provided in case the entity is under investigation/ adjudications/appeals by the law enforcing agencies, for violation of any of the provision of the regulations under the Act, it shall indicate to the Authorized Dealers (ADs) about pendency of investigations/adjudications/appeals, while availing foreign currency borrowing. ] ] ( ii) Amount 2 a. The borrowing in foreign exchange by an entity as specified in paragraph (i) (a) of section I of Schedule I, under the Automatic Route whether raised in tranches or otherwise, shall not exceed USD 500 million or equivalent in any one financial year (April - March). 12 [ b. The borrowings in foreign currency under as specified in paragraph (i) (b) of section I of Schedule I, by a non-government organisation and Micro Finance Institution engaged in micro-finance activities shall not exceed USD 10 million or equivalent during a financial year (April-March). ] (iii) Lenders The borrowings in foreign currency by way of issue of bonds, floating rate notes or other debt instruments by whatever name called may be made from - (a) International bank or export credit agency or international capital market or (b) Multilateral financial institutions, namely, IFC, ADB, CDC etc., or (c) Foreign collaborator or foreign equity holder as specified by the Reserve Bank or (d) Supplier of equipments provided the amount of loan raised does not exceed the total cost of the equipment being supplied by the lender or (e) Any other eligible entity as prescribed by the Reserve Bank in consultation with Government of India ( iv) Purpose (End-use) (A) Borrowing in foreign exchange in terms of this Schedule may be for any of the following purposes, namely: - (a) for investment (such as import of capital goods, new projects, modernisation / expansion of existing production units) in real sector - industrial sector including small and medium enterprises (SME) and infrastructure sector - in India. 18 [Explanation: The following sectors will qualify as infrastructure sectors, namely, (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 200 crore and above, convention centres with fixed capital investment of 300 core 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. (g) Any other sectors as prescribed by the Reserve Bank in consultation with Government of India.] (b) for first stage acquisition of shares in the disinvestment process and also in the mandatory second stage offer to the public under the Government s disinvestment programme of PSU shares , (c) for direct investment in overseas Joint Ventures (JV)/Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) subject to the existing guidelines on Indian Direct Investment in JV/WOS abroad. 3 (d) any other eligible purpose as specified by the Reserve Bank. 5 (AA) Borrowings in foreign exchange per borrower company per financial year up to such amounts not exceeding US Dollars 500 million or its equivalent as directed by the Reserve Bank from time to time shall be permitted for such permissible end-uses as indicated by Reserve Bank from time to time. (B) Other than the purposes specified hereinabove, the borrowings shall not be utilised for any other purpose including the following purposes, namely: On-lending, investment in capital (stock) market, investment in real estate business, working capital requirements, general corporate purpose, and repayment of Rupee loans Note - 4 Omitted 13 [v) Maturity The maturity of the borrowings in foreign exchange shall be as under: Amount Minimum Maturity Average ( i ) Up to USD 20 Million or equivalent Not less than 3 years. ( ii ) Exceeding USD 20 Million or equivalent and Not less than 5 years upto USD 750 Million or equivalent Note - Borrowing up to US$ 20 Million can have call/put option provided the minimum average maturity of 3 years as prescribed above is complied with before exercising call/put option. ] ( vi) All-in-cost ceilings The all-in-cost ceilings for the borrowing in foreign exchange shall be specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time (vii) Security The borrower shall be at liberty to provide security to the lender / suppliers, provided that- a) Where the security is in form of immovable property in India or shares of a company in India, it shall be subject to Regulation 8 of Notification No.FEMA.21/ 2000-RB dated May 3, 2000 and Regulation 3 of Notification No.FEMA.20/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000, respectively. b) Guarantee Banks, financial institutions and Non-Banking Finance Companies shall not provide (issue) guarantee or Letter of Comfort or Standby Letter of Credit in favour of overseas lender on behalf of their constituents for their borrowings in foreign exchange. (viii) Prepayment Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (v) above, prepayment of outstanding foreign currency loan may be made as per the directives issued by the Reserve Bank from time to time. 7 [ (ix) Parking of loan amount The proceeds of borrowings in foreign exchange availed under the schedule may, pending utilisation for permissible end-uses be parked abroad or in India as directed by the Reserve Bank from time to time]. ( x) Loan Agreement The loan agreement entered into by the borrower with the overseas lender shall strictly conform with these Regulations.. The procedure for obtaining loan registration number would be prescribed by the Reserve Bank. ( xi) Drawal of Loan Draw-downs of borrowing in foreign exchange shall be made strictly in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement only after obtaining the loan registration number from the Reserve Bank. (xii) Reporting The borrower shall adhere to the reporting procedure as specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time. ( xiii) Debt Servicing The designated Authorised Dealer (AD) shall have the general permission to make remittances of principal, interest and other charges in conformity with the guidelines on borrowing in foreign exchange from overseas, issued by Central Government / the Reserve Bank from time to time. 2. Refinancing of existing borrowing in foreign exchange (i) Refinancing of outstanding amounts of loans raised in foreign exchange in accordance with the Act or the Rules and Regulations made thereunder, may be made by making fresh borrowing in foreign exchange in accordance with this Schedule provided that there is reduction in cost of borrowing and the outstanding maturity of the original borrowing is not reduced. ii. Provisions of sub-paragraphs (ii), and (v) of paragraph 1 shall not apply to the borrowings made under Clause 2 (i), 14 [(3) Foreign currency borrowings by successful bidders of 2G spectrum reauction: (i) The successful bidders can avail of foreign currency borrowing in the nature of bridge finance for the purpose of making upfront payment towards spectrum allocation and refinance the same by making fresh borrowing in foreign exchange in accordance with the Act or the Rules and Regulations made thereunder in accordance with this Schedule, subject to satisfying the terms and conditions as may be specified by the Reserve Bank, from time to time in this regard. (ii) Provisions of sub-paragraph (v) of paragraph 1 shall not apply to the foreign currency borrowing in the nature of bridge finance made under para 3(i). (iii) The restriction of repayment of Rupee loans as specified in clause (B) in sub-paragraph (iv) of paragraph 1 shall not apply to the foreign currency borrowing availed of for refinancing domestic borrowings for making upfront payment towards spectrum allocation. (iv) Such foreign currency borrowings can also be availed of from the ultimate parent company subject to satisfying the terms and conditions as may be specified by the Reserve Bank, from time to time in this regard. ] 19 [ 4. Provided that under these Regulations, the Reserve Bank may, in consultation with the Government of India, prescribe for the automatic route, any provision or proviso regarding various parameters listed in paragraphs 1 to 3 above of this Schedule or any other parameter as prescribed by the Reserve Bank and also prescribe the date from which any or all of the existing proviso will cease to exist, in respect of borrowings from overseas, whether in foreign currency or Indian Rupees, such as addition / deletion of borrowers eligible to raise such borrowings, overseas lenders / investors, purposes of such borrowings, change in amount, maturity and all-incost, norms regarding security, pre-payment, parking of ECB proceeds, reporting and drawal of loan, refinancing, debt servicing, etc. ] ************************* Notes : 1.Has been substituted vide Notification No. 142/2005 dated 6/12/2005 , before it was read as, i) Eligibility:- Any corporate registered under the Companies Act, 1956 shall be eligible to borrow in terms of this Schedule. However, financial intermediaries (such as banks, financial institutions (FIs), housing financing companies, Non-Banking Finance Companies, Trusts, Non-Profit making organisations (NPOs), Micro Finance Institutions, proprietorship/partnership concerns and individuals are not eligible to borrow under the Automatic Route . 2. Has been substituted vide Notification No. Supra , before it was read as, ii) Amount:- The borrowing in foreign exchange under the Automatic Route whether raised in tranches or otherwise shall not exceed US$ 500 Million in any one financial year (April-March) . 3. Has been inserted vide Notification No. Supra 4. Has been Omitted vide Notification No. 157/2007 dated 30/8/2007 , (w.e.f. 21/5/2007) before Omission it was read as, For the purpose of this clause, real estate business shall not include development of integrated township as defined by the Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, SIA (FC Division), Press Note 3(2002 Series) dated January 4, 2002. 5. Substituted vide notification no. 194/2009 dated 17/6/2009 with effect from 29th day of May, 2008, before it was inserted vide Notification No. 157/2007 dated 30/8/2007 (w.e.f. 7/8/2007) as (AA) Borrowings in foreign exchange upto USD 500 million per borrower company per financial year shall be permitted only for foreign currency expenditure for permissible end-use. 6. Substituted vide notification no. 194/2009 dated 17/6/2009 with effect from 8th day of October 2008, before it was read as Explanation : The following sectors will qualify as infrastructure sectors, namely: Power , Telecommunications, Railways, Roads including bridges, Ports, Industrial Parks and Urban infrastructure (water supply, sanitation and sewage projects) 7. Substituted vide notification no. 194/2009 dated 17/6/2009 with effect from 22nd day of October, 2008, before it was read as ix) Parking of loan amount abroad The proceeds of borrowings in foreign exchange shall be parked abroad until actual requirement in India. 8. Inserted vide notification no. 197/2009-RB dated 22-9-2009 9. Inserted vide notification no. 197/2009-RB dated 22-9-2009 10. Inserted vide notification no. 197/2009-RB dated 22-9-2009 11. Substituted vide Notification [No. FEMA 232/2012-RB], Dated 30-05-2012 , with effect from 19th day of December 2011, before it was read as:- (b) Non-Government Organisations engaged in micro-finance activities may borrow in foreign exchange under this Schedule under such terms and conditions as specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time. 9 [Provided that they have not at any time violated any of the provisions of these regulations and no investigation is pending against them for contravention of the provisions of these regulations under the Act. ] 12. Substituted vide Notification [No. FEMA 232/2012-RB], Dated 30-05-2012 , with effect from 19th day of December 2011, before it was read as:- b. The borrowings in foreign currency under as specified in paragraph (i) (b) of section I of Schedule I, by a non-government organisation engaged in micro-finance activities shall not exceed USD 5 million or equivalent during a financial year (April - March). 13. Substituted vide Notification [No. FEMA 232/2012-RB], Dated 30-05-2012 , with effect from 23rd day of September 2011 before it was read as:- Maturity The maturity of the borrowings in foreign exchange shall be as under : Amount Minimum Average Maturity i) Up to US$ 20 Million or equivalent Not less than 3 years ii) Exceeding US$ 20 Million and upto US$ 500 Million or equivalent Not less than 5 years Note - Borrowing up to US$ 20 Million can have call/put option provided the minimum average maturity of 3 years as prescribed above is complied with before exercising call/put option. 14. Inserted vide Notification No. FEMA 245/2012-RB, dated 12/11/2012 15. Substituted vide Notification No. FEMA. 256/2013-RB dated 6/02/2013 , before it was read as, 8 [Provided that they have not at any time violated any of the provisions of these regulations and no investigation is pending against them for contravention of the provisions of these regulations under the Act. ] 16. Substituted vide Notification No. FEMA. 256/2013-RB dated 6/02/2013 , before it was read as, Provided that they have not at any time violated any of the provisions of these regulations and no investigation is pending against them for contravention of the provisions of these regulations under the Act. 17. Substituted vide Notification No. FEMA. 256/2013-RB dated 6/02/2013, before it was read as, 10 [Provided that they have not at any time violated any of the provisions of these regulations and no investigation is pending against them for contravention of the provisions of these regulations under the Act. 18. Substituted vide Notification No. FEMA. 281/2013-RB July 19, 2013 , before it was read as, 6 [ Explanation : The following sectors will qualify as infrastructure sectors, namely (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) and (viii) Mining, Exploration and Refining ] 19. Inserted vide Not. 358/2015-RB - Dated 2-12-2015