This group for monitoring of foreign currency export credit comprises of senior managers from foreign banks, private and public sector banks, State Bank of India chief general manager Harbans Lal, Canara Bank general manager AKS Rao, Bank of India general manager RN Buch, ANZ Grindlays Bank director Soumen Basu and Vyasa Bank advisor KRV Bhat.

The group will have responsibility to monitor implementation of the RBI guidelines on foreign currency export credit by bank branches, ensure that the system is in place at all centres, visit and interact with bankers and exporters to sort out the problems in availing foreign currencycredit and set up a procedure for attending to exporters' difficulties, expeditiously.

They will also have to review periodically the working of the schemes and submit their findings to the `standing committee on export credit' chaired by the deputy governor of the RBI Under the revamped scheme for foreign currency credit to exporters, it has also been provided that export credit will be need-based and not directly linked to the collateral security.

Among other important features of the revamped scheme are: making available a line of credit for a period of up to three years on the basis of exporters' track record, flexibility with regard to the method of assessment of credit requirements and disbursement of credit on the basis of a statement of orders in hand.

The revamped scheme also provides that member banks, upon approval by a consortium, can simultaneously initiate sanctioning process, and that they should not insist on submission of original sale contract/order for handling export documents --unless required as per the `Letter of Credit' (LC) terms.

With this revamped scheme, the RBI has, in simplifying the sanctioning procedures, acceded to the long standing grievance of the exporters and the RBI will now be in a position to monitor the implementation of this scheme too.