Project finance in India
For founders and sponsors of a project in India who are considering financing it through a bond, a note or a similar instrument placed with international investors.
Indian projects earn in rupees. Capital raised abroad brings a currency question with it, and Indian law governs who may borrow abroad, from whom and on what terms.
External Commercial Borrowing
Borrowing abroad by Indian entities is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending) Regulations, 2018, as amended by the First Amendment Regulations, 2026 (Reserve Bank of India Notification No. FEMA 3(R)(5)/2026-RB of 9 February 2026). Under Schedule I, any person resident in India other than an individual that is incorporated, established or registered under a Central or State Act is an eligible borrower, if its governing Act permits external commercial borrowing. It may borrow from a person resident outside India, from a branch outside India of an entity whose lending business is regulated by the Reserve Bank, or from a financial institution in an IFSC.
The borrowing may take any form of commercial borrowing arrangement that involves agreed interest and repayment of principal, and expressly includes foreign currency convertible and exchangeable bonds. The cost of borrowing must be in line with prevailing market conditions. Funds may be drawn only after a Loan Registration Number has been obtained from the Reserve Bank through the designated AD Category I bank, and receipts and debt servicing are reported monthly on Form ECB 2.
Which provisions apply to a particular project, including the restrictions on how the funds may be used, is confirmed by Indian counsel; this page does not replace that advice.
Source: Reserve Bank of India, Notification FEMA 3(R)(5)/2026-RB.
What the Bank does
International Finance Bank designs, structures and issues financial instruments through its affiliated entities, including as a means of securing financing for projects. Every proposal is analysed individually, from the perspective of a credit institution rather than a broker, and instruments are made available only to clients whose compliance file is complete. The route runs in three steps: a readiness review of the project dossier, client onboarding, then structuring. How the three steps work.
Bankability Check
Ten questions, about three minutes. They follow the points a credit institution examines before it considers financing a project. You receive an indicative score and, where something is missing, a precise list of what to prepare.
Your project looks ready for a readiness review
On your own answers, the essentials a bank looks for are in place. The next step is the readiness review: you upload the dossier, and the review assesses its completeness and bankability against the Bank's documentation standard. The fee is EUR 500, flat and non-refundable, for one project.
Promising, with gaps to close first
The project has substance, but a reviewer would stop at the points below. Close them before you submit; an incomplete dossier cannot be processed.
Not yet ready for a bank
That is not a verdict on the idea. It means the groundwork a bank needs is still missing. Start here:
This check is an indication based solely on your own answers. It is not an assessment by the Bank, not an offer of finance and not a commitment of any kind. Your answers are not stored; only the anonymous score is counted.
What a bank will ask for
The full list of documents for a project submission is set out on the Project Financing page. On how instruments support credit rather than replace it, see Structured Instrument Finance; on access to notes and instruments, see Instruments for Projects & Trade.
Next step
Prepare a complete project financing dossier
Complete dossiers enable IFB's readiness review of project feasibility, the business plan, management team, collateral and applicant's financial capacity.
Prefer to speak to the bank before you apply? Choose a time that suits you.
