External commercial borrowing Keeping in view India’s external sector position, as reflected in country’s various external debt sustainability indicators, a comprehensive review of the ECB guidelines was carried out in consultation with the Government and revised ECB guidelines, effective February 1, 2004, were announced to encourage corporates to access ECB for undertaking real investment activity in India and for overseas direct investment in JVs and Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS).
The maximum amount of ECB that can be accessed under the Automatic Route is enhanced to USD 500 million (from USD 50 million previously) per financial year.