ECGC IPO Likely, To Hit Market In Fourth Quarter Of FY23: CMD

ECGC Ltd's Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) M Senthilnathan on Tuesday said the listing of the export credit agency on the stock exchange is likely to happen in the last quarter of the current fiscal. Last year, the government had said that it would start the process to list the state-owned entity soon, and the Initial Public Offering (IPO) would hit the market during the next financial year.

According to Senthilnathan, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had mentioned that the listing of ECGC will happen after the IPO of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). "The initial review of ECGC has been done by DIPAM and the next direction is expected from them. Initially, we were told that the listing will happen somewhere around the last quarter of the current financial year.

So, I think they will be on time," Senthilnathan told reporters. ECGC Ltd is a wholly-owned central public sector enterprise set up with the objective of improving the competitiveness of exporters by providing them credit risk insurance and related services for exports. The state-owned entity on Tuesday introduced a new scheme to provide enhanced export credit risk insurance cover to the extent of 90 per cent to support small exporters under the Export Credit Insurance for Banks Whole Turnover Packaging Credit and Post Shipment (ECIB-WTPC & PS).

The scheme is expected to benefit a number of small-scale exporters availing of export credit with banks which hold the ECGC WT-ECIB covers. It will enable the small exporters to explore new markets/new buyers and diversify their existing product portfolio competitively. "We expect this to bring up the percentage of accounts with up to Rs 20 crore, thereby lending further stability to the ECGC portfolio," Senthilnathan said. "By giving 90 per cent cover to banks, we expect more small companies to get export credit from banks, benefiting these industries greatly. We expect banks to provide more concessions.

The net effect will be a benefit to exporters, involving reduction in interest rate," he said. This new scheme will enable the banks holding ECGC's WT-ECIB cover to explore the possibility of reducing interest rates further. The enhanced cover percentage shall be made available to State Bank of India as per the previous year's premium rate in view of its favourable claim premium ratio, a release said. However, for other banks there may be a moderate increase in the prevailing premium rates, it said. The enhanced cover shall be available for manufacturer-exporters availing fund-based export credit working capital limit up to Rs 20 crore, excluding the gems, jewellery and diamond sector and merchant exporters, the release said.

(PTI)