Page 9 - Banking Finance February 2026

BANK UPDATE

year term. An agriculture graduate
from the Allahabad Agriculture Institute, IRFC to refinance Rs. 10,000 crore World Bank loan
he brings close to three decades of ex- for freight corridor
perience in the banking sector. Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and the Dedicated Freight Corri-
Before joining Indian Bank, Singh dor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) have signed an agreement to refinance
served in various capacities at Bank of Rs. 10,000 crore of foreign-currency loans availed from the World Bank for
Baroda, including as credit officer, the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. DFCCIL is the special-purpose ve-
branch head, and regional head, gain- hicle responsible for developing dedicated rail freight corridors across the
ing extensive exposure across lending, country.
operations, and leadership roles. His The World Bank loans were originally raised for the Rs. 51,000 crore, 1,337-
experience across public sector banks kilometre Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, which runs from Punjab to
and familiarity with large-scale bank- Bihar and connects key cargo hubs handling coal and major industrial raw
ing operations are expected to support materials. According to DFCCIL, the refinancing arrangement has been struc-
Canara Bank's strategic priorities amid tured in close coordination with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Rail-
a challenging operating environment ways, IRFC, and the World Bank.
marked by credit growth, asset-qual-
Describing the move as a historic first, DFCCIL said the refinancing is ex-
ity management, and digital transfor-
mation. pected to generate savings of about Rs. 2,700 crore for the Government of
India. The initiative aligns with the broader objective of reducing reliance
on foreign currency debt and strengthening domestic financing capabilities.
NRI deposit inflows mod- The refinancing is also seen as a step towards enhancing financial self-reli-
erate to $8.3 billion in ance while optimising long-term funding costs for large infrastructure
projects critical to India's logistics and economic growth.
April-October FY26
Inflows into non-resident Indian (NRI) Overall outstanding NRI deposits rose NPCI has introduced the portal,
deposit schemes moderated to $8.3
to $168.78 billion at the end of Octo- upihelp.npci.org.in, alongside a revised
billion during April-October of FY26,
ber 2025, up from $162.69 billion a Autopay framework notified through a
down from $11.9 billion in the corre- year ago. NRI deposits comprise FCNR, circular issued on October 7, 2025.
sponding period last year, according to NRE, and non-resident ordinary (NRO) Under the new rules, all Unified Pay-
data released by the Reserve Bank of
accounts and remain a stable source of ments Interface (UPI) members must
India. The slowdown was primarily foreign capital for the banking system. implement the changes by December
driven by a sharp decline in inflows into 31, 2025, while existing mandates will
foreign currency non-resident (bank) continue without disruption until then.
or FCNR (B) deposits. Tracking UPI Autopay gets
easier with central NPCI Consumers will now be able to see all
RBI data showed that FCNR (B) depos- active mandates across apps through
its attracted inflows of $1.6 billion dur- portal a dedicated Autopay or "manage bank
ing the seven-month period, signifi- The National Payments Corporation of accounts" section in any UPI app. A key
cantly lower than the $6.1 billion re- India (NPCI) has tightened oversight of reform is mandate portability, allowing
corded a year earlier. The outstanding recurring UPI charges by launching a users to shift mandates between UPI
balance in FCNR (B) accounts stood at
centralised portal that allows users to apps, while merchants can migrate
$31.88 billion at the end of October view and manage all UPI Autopay mandates across payment providers
2025. In contrast, non-resident exter- mandates in one place. The initiative without changing terms. To prevent
nal (NRE) deposits witnessed higher aims to curb opaque billing practices misuse, NPCI has introduced safe-
inflows of $3.9 billion during April-Oc-
and improve consumer control over guards including mandatory UPI PIN
tober FY26, compared with $3.0 billion
subscriptions, particularly on e-com- authentication, a 90-day cooling period
in the same period last year, reflecting merce platforms where recurring deb- for mandate porting, restrictions on
continued preference for rupee-de- its are often triggered with limited vis- incentives, and tighter limits on the use
nominated savings.
ibility or exit options. of mandate data.

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