Export credit rate for AEZ units cut
By Our Banking Bureau | 31 Jan 2002
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Mumbai: In a move to increase exports of agricultural produce in the country as specified in the Exim Policy of March 2001, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the reduction of the export credit rate from 11 per cent to 8 per cent for those processing units and exporters engaged in the agri-export zones (AEZs).
The RBI recently issued a circular to all commercial banks effecting the reduction in the rate. The circular said the producer must enter into a contract with a farmer, or a group of farmers, having cultivable land close to the zone.
Further, the exporter has to purchase the produce as a raw material to provide the value-addition and export. The bank must ensure that the exporters have made the required arrangements with the farmers and overseas buyers for the purchase of crop and products to be exported, before financing the unit in the AEZ.
