Welcoming the move, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) said it would help taking pressure off the rupee and augment supply of dollars in the Indian foreign exchange market.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) felt the RBI move was on expected lines to shore up the rupee in the short run. It, however, felt that the measures must be temporary and should be reviewed as soon as the exchange rate stabilised.

Ficci hoped RBI would restore the EEFC entitlements and also bring down the interest rate.

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has termed the RBI decision as a prudent measure and a step in the right direction to prevent the rupee from depreciating further and stabilise the rupee-dollar exchange parity. Assocham said the $1 billion the RBI would be able to mop up through this move would be used to safeguard the rupee from further fall.

It felt the RBI decision would further allay the apprehensions of foreign investors on the fundamentals of the economy which remain strong as ever. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Navratan Samdria said RBI's move would adversely affect their efforts to promote exports.

In a statement issued here on Monday, Samdria said the time-limit to bring back the export proceeds by August 23 was too short which would again place the exporters at a disadvantageous position in their export drive. Besides, the exporters who were also importing raw materials for export production would have to pay by way of buying dollar a higher rate which would make their finished products uncompetitive in the world market, he added.

At present, the exporters were using the EEFC account to meet the cost of import content of export production and the entire foreign currency was lying in Indian backs without the benefit of earning any interest. If the RBI was keen to streamline the trade balance, it should attempt to restrict imports instead of hampering the exporters' efforts by capping the EEFC account. RBI must see the reasons for increased outflow in the recent past.

Samdria stressed that under no circumstances should the present EEFC arrangements be minimised which he said would hamstrung the exporters in achieving the 18 per cent growth rate target fixed for the current fiscal. The announcement resulted in the rupee recovering to Rs 45.72 to a dollar.