Deffered Payment For importing Machinery by Indian Importers

There is no specific guidelines for treating imported machinery as ECB.

In the case

M/s Kerns Aero Products Private Limited was allowed by FIPB to issue shares for the value of machinery imported to the supplier .

 

For the value of imported machinery , one has to make payment within the stipulated time else it will be an offense under FEMA.

 

As per terms of the extant regulations, remittances against imports should be completed not later than six months from the date of shipment, except in cases where amounts are withheld towards guarantee of performance, etc.

Imported machinery payment if not paid within 6 months of import , then Deferred payment arrangements, including suppliers and buyers credit, providing for payments beyond a period of six months from date of shipment up to a period of less than three years, are treated as trade credits for which the procedural guidelines laid down in the Master Circular for External Commercial Borrowings and Trade Credits may be followed.

 Under ECB Guidelines ,one can import machinary and can make payment within 3 years and this will treated as trade credit.

TRADE CREDITS FOR IMPORTS INTO INDIA

Trade Credits’ (TC) refer to credits extended for imports directly by the overseas supplier, bank and financial institution for maturity of less than three years. Depending on the source of finance, such trade credits include suppliers’ credit or buyers’ credit. Suppliers’ credit relates to credit for imports into India extended by the overseas supplier, while buyers’ credit refers to loans for payment of imports into India arranged by the importer from a bank or financial institution outside India for maturity of less than three years. It may be noted that buyers’ credit and suppliers’ credit for three years and above come under the category of External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) which are governed by ECB guidelines.
a) Amount and Maturity
AD banks are permitted to approve trade credits for imports into India up to USD 20 million per import transaction for imports permissible under the current Foreign Trade Policy of the DGFT with a maturity period up to one year (from the date of shipment). For import of capital goods as classified by DGFT, AD banks may approve trade credits up to USD 20 million per import transaction with a maturity period of more than one year and less than three years (from the date of shipment). No roll-over/extension will be permitted beyond the permissible period.
AD banks shall not approve trade credit exceeding USD 20 million per import transaction.
b) All-in-cost Ceilings

The all-in-cost ceilings include arranger fee, upfront fee, management fee, handling/ processing charges, out of pocket and legal expenses, if any.