'EXIM Bank looking to disburse usd 6-7 bn in project export finance'

EXIM Bank of India has a huge fund corpus of $ 6-7 billion waiting to be disbursed for project exports finance and the next fiscal is likely to see an uptick in disbursements, David Rasquinha, Managing Director & CEO EXIM Bank of India said on Monday.

"Six months is too small for the projects exports which take couple of years to be conceived, implemented and come on stream. So we can't see any major uptick in six months. But in the next fiscal, certainly export financing will increase because we have a huge pipeline of unutilised funds of almost about $6-7 billion, which we are looking to disburse," he told IANS in an interview.

"We know that contracts are underway in the power, highways, railways, hydropower but they have to reach a certain milestone for availing our funds," he added.

"We are seeing good traction in project finance in power sector (generation & transmission). Power distribution segment is seeing slightly less action. Roads, railways and hydro power sector project export finances are seeing upward action," he said.

"We are ready to support existing and new projects. As a financier, our forte is finance packages. Globally if there is a reduction in growth, one can not do much by offering a lower cost of credit. You need the world economy to start growing again".

Rasquinha said the whole world is facing problems. "Indian exports have done a fantastic job. Export demands in US, and China are reducing. Despite that, Indian exports have maintained a high level despite the challenges of the overseas markets. Maybe they have not grown by that big number, but still it is high compared to the rest of the world growth. Indian exports , exporters should be credited and the government should be hailed for all the steps that they have taken".

He said, "Project exports are going well. We are holding seminars to get feedback from project exporters, their challenges, what we can do to address those".

Under the Export Project Cash Flow Deficit Finance (EPCDF), EXIM Bank offers a facility to Indian project exporters executing project export contract overseas. The facility (available in domestic and foreign currency) helps take care of temporary cash flow deficits during contract execution period.

EXIM Bank also extends funded and non-funded facilities to export of projects and services in civil engineering and construction, turnkey, technical and consultancy. It provides pre-shipment credit to enable exporters to purchase raw material and other inputs, and enables provision of rupee/FC mobilization expenses for construction/turnkey projects.

It also provides foreign currency pre-shipment credit facility to import raw materials and other inputs for export production. Its post-shipment credit finances the export bill after shipments have been made. This facility enables Indian exporters to extend term credit to importers at the post-shipment stage.

There are small challenges on project finance fronts. "We are telling Indian companies to stop trying to do themselves everything. It pays to tie up with large companies from other countries like Japan, South Korea who have technology, low cost finance but high cost of labour".