RBI Confirms India’s INR48.5 Billion Credit Line for Maldives Projects

The Reserve Bank of India has confirmed that an INR48.5 billion credit facility for development projects in the Maldives took effect on 27 August, with at least 75 per cent of the applicable contract value to be supplied from India.

The 23 September circular covers an Export-Import Bank of India agreement signed with the Maldivian government on 25 July 2025. The facility is backed by the Indian government and denominated at INR4,850 crore.

Goods, works and services sourced from India must meet the minimum share. The remaining 25 per cent may be procured outside India. Eligible exports are also subject to India’s Foreign Trade Policy and Exim Bank’s financing approval.

Individual credit agreements, each worth at least INR500 crore, will follow the identification and approval of projects. The final disbursement date is 48 months after the relevant contract’s scheduled completion.

The circular does not announce that the full facility has been disbursed or name the projects approved for individual financing.

Agreement signed during Modi’s visit

President Mohamed Muizzu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the exchange of the umbrella credit agreement at the President’s Office in July 2025.

The Maldivian announcement described the facility as the Indian-rupee equivalent of US$565 million at the time. That figure was the equivalent reported when the agreement was exchanged, rather than a new dollar-denominated commitment in September 2026.

The ceremony also included an amendment to an existing dollar credit-line agreement and the launch of free-trade negotiations between the two countries.

India’s official list of outcomes from the visit identifies Finance and Planning Minister Moosa Zameer and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar as the representatives exchanging both financing agreements.

That list records a reduction in the Maldives’ annual repayment obligations on existing Indian government-funded credit lines as a separate outcome from the new INR4,850 crore facility.

Earlier development projects

The July 2025 visit also included the handover of 3,300 housing units in Hulhumalé financed through India’s Buyers’ Credit facilities, according to the Indian government’s record.

Other projects inaugurated during the visit included roads and drainage works in Addu and six High Impact Community Development Projects. These were listed as completed or handed-over projects from that visit, separately from the newly agreed credit line.