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IRFC eyes $2B loan in FY27 for infra projects
24 May 2026

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), a state-owned entity, is gearing up to raise $2 billion through external commercial borrowing (ECB).

The funds will mainly be in Japanese yen and will be used to support business growth in the current financial year.

This ECB is part of a ₹70,000 crore resource mobilization plan approved by the IRFC board for FY27.

Loan agreement signed with consortium of banks
Loan details

IRFC Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Kumar Dubey confirmed the signing of a loan agreement with a consortium of banks for an ECB loan worth JPY equivalent to $1.1 billion.

He said that given the pipeline of projects, they expect disbursements within this quarter itself.

The ECB has been tied up for a five-year tenor and is benchmarked to Overnight TONAR (Tokyo Overnight Average Rate).

Proceeds from ECB to finance railway projects
Fund allocation

The proceeds from the ECB facility will be used to finance projects with forward or backward linkages with the railway sector.

It can also be used for any other project as approved by the firm in compliance with ECB guidelines.

This is IRFC's first ECB for FY27 after raising Japanese yen equivalent to $700 million across two ECB transactions in FY26.

Targeting loan sanction of over ₹1L crore in FY27
Future targets

IRFC, which got Navratna status last year, is targeting a loan sanction of over ₹1 lakh crore in the current financial year.

Dubey said they are aiming for this target and a disbursement of about ₹40,000 crore during FY27 as the pipeline of high-quality infrastructure projects looks strong.

Last fiscal year (FY26), IRFC sanctioned projects worth ₹72,949 crore and disbursed around ₹35,067 crore, exceeding its annual guidance.