Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited was incorporated on December 12, 1986 as a Public Limited Company. Thereafter, The Company received a Certificate of Commencement of Business from the RoC on December 23, 1986. The MCA, through its notification dated October 8, 1993, classified the Company as a Public Financial Institution and subsequently, Company was registered with RBI to carry on the business of a non-banking financial institution, pursuant to a certificate of registration dated February 16, 1998. Dated March 17, 2008, RBI classified Company as a non-deposit accepting asset finance non-banking financial company.
IRFC is a Miniratna I and Schedule A' Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, Govt. of India. It is also registered as Systemically Important Non-Deposit taking Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC - ND-SI) and Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFCIFC) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In more than 30 years of existence, IRFC has played a significant role in supporting the expansion of the Indian Railways and related entities by financing a significant proportion of its annual plan outlay.
IRFC a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, plays a significant role in funding the Indian Railways. Their main business is leasing of rolling stock assets, railway infrastructure assets and lending to other entities. The MoR is responsible for procurement of Rolling Stock Assets and for improvement, expansion and maintenance of Project Assets.
The primary objective of IRFC is to meet the predominant portion of Extra Budgetary Resources' (EBR) requirement of the Indian Railways through market borrowings at the most competitive rates and terms. IRFC's cumulative funding to rail sector has crossed Rs.5.04 lakh crore as of 31st March, 2022. The funds are utilized for acquiring rolling stock assets and also building up infrastructure, constituting significant part of annual capital expenditure of Indian Railways. So far, it has funded acquisition of 13764 locomotives, 76735 passenger coaches, 265815 wagons, which constitute around 75% of the total rolling stock fleet of Indian Railways. From 2011-12 onwards, IRFC has forayed into funding of railway projects and capacity enhancement works. IRFC has also been lending to various entities in Railway sector like Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Railtel, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited (PRCL) etc.
The Company is responsible for raising the finance necessary for such activities. Over the last three decades, the company has played a significant role in supporting the capacity enhancement of the Indian Railways by financing a proportion of its annual plan outlay. The Union Budget proposed a capital expenditure of Rs. 1,602 billion for the Indian Railways for Fiscal 2020, which was higher than the capital expenditure (revised estimate) of Rs. 1,388.58 billion in Fiscal 2019. The actual capital expenditure of the Indian Railways was Rs. 1,334 billion in Fiscal 2019. In Fiscal 2019, the company financed Rs. 525.35 billion accounting for 39.38% of the actual capital expenditure of the Indian Railways.
The Company follows a financial leasing model for financing the Rolling Stock Assets. The period of lease with respect to Rolling Stock Assets is typically 30 years comprising a primary period of 15 years followed by a secondary period of 15 years, unless otherwise revised by mutual consent. In terms of the leasing arrangements, the principal amount pertaining to the leased assets is effectively payable during the primary 15 years lease period, along with the weighted average cost of borrowing and a margin determined by the MOR in consultation with the company at the end of each Fiscal. Typically, the weighted average cost of borrowing factors in any expenses incurred by the company with respect to any foreign currency hedging costs and/ or losses (and gains, if any) as well as any hedging costs for interest rate fluctuations. For the second 15 year period, the company charges the Indian Railways a nominal rate which is subject to revision on mutually acceptable terms. The Company also follows a leasing model for Project Assets, which typically provides for lease periods of 30 years.
The total Capital Outlay (Capital Expenditure) of MoR for the year 2020-21 was Rs. 1,55,161 crore out of which IRFC's disbursement against the same was significant at Rs. 1,04,369.00 crore which constitutes 67.43% of total capital outlay for the year 2020-21. In development of additional terminals for handling rail cargos, a new 'Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)' policy was launched on 15 December, 2021.
As on 31st March 2024, 86.36% of the paid-up equity share capital of the Company comprising of 11,286,437,000 Equity Shares of Rs. 10/- each were held by President of India acting through administrative ministry i.e., Ministry of Railways (MoR). The balance 13.64% of paid-up equity share capital was held by public.