RBI's move to cut risk weights for NBFC infra loans to boost lending, competitiveness: Report

Mumbai, Oct 7 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India’s proposal to reduce risk weights for NBFCs lending to high-quality operational infrastructure projects will enhance future competitiveness, lower financing costs, and increase the lending capacity of NBFCs, a report said on Tuesday.

The move would align NBFC regulations with those of banks, which enjoy lower capital requirements for highly rated assets, according to the report from ratings agency CareEdge Ratings.

"By differentiating between operational and under-construction projects, NBFCs can allocate capital more efficiently to de-risked assets, thereby lowering financing costs and enhancing lending capacity," the firm welcomed the RBI move.

Although NBFCs currently maintain strong capital buffers, the change is expected to enhance future competitiveness and capital efficiency, it added.

The report said that as NBFCs show growth in infrastructure lending, especially in the power sector, the measure supports long-term funding from institutional investors and strengthens the overall infrastructure financing ecosystem.

Further, it encourages NBFCs to maintain high asset quality, with incentives potentially tied to external credit ratings and performance metrics.

Some NBFCs, such as Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs) and Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs), already apply a lower risk weight (50 per cent) to loans backed by strong tripartite agreements, but not to other wholesale lending NBFCs.

The proposed changes aim to fix this gap, which could reduce the cost of capital for completed infrastructure projects and encourage NBFCs to lend more in this space.

This move aligns with the RBI’s updated project finance guidelines that came into effect on October 1, 2025. These guidelines introduce stricter standards for projects that are still under construction. While the initial draft suggested a 5 per cent provisioning requirement, the final version has eased it to 1 per cent.

--IANS

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