Stressed assets funds may return to India after relaxed ECB norms

Companies seek returns of over 20 per cent but RBI has put restrictions on yields and tenure

The Reserve Bank of India’s move to allow companies to raise loans under external commercial borrowing (ECB) route — to repay banks their dues categorised as non-performing assets (NPAs) — will likely pique interest of foreign stressed asset funds once again. So far, such investors have remained non-committal in picking up Indian assets after seeing legal obstacles in the resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), say experts.

The RBI on Tuesday said NPAs, or loans heading towards the NPA stage, could also be sold off by banks to recover their domestic rupee loans. Such transactions will have