RBI tightens forex derivative rules, supports oil companies

The Reserve Bank of India has tightened regulations on rupee-linked foreign exchange derivatives. It has restricted rebooking of cancelled contracts and lowered the threshold for transactions without underlying exposure from $100 million to $5 million. Additional checks for hedging activities are now mandatory, and a 20% cash reserve requirement has been introduced for certain transactions. The RBI has also opened a dollar window allowing Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, and Bharat Petroleum to access dollars.