The government has allowed housing financing companies to raise funds through external commercial borrowings, ECBs route to finance low-cost housing projects. A Finance Ministry statement said it has been decided that entities like National Housing Bank ,NHB and Housing Finance Companies, HFC will be included as eligible borrowers for financing such low cost housing projects. 

Earliar, the Finance Minister P Chidambaram had asked Indian Bankers Association (IBA) to form a committee to advise the government on tackling the slowdown in the housing demand.

The High Level Committee on External Commercial Borrowings which met New Delhi on Wednesday, also permitted Foreign institutional investors to invest up to USD five billion in rupee bonds within the overall corporate bond limit of USD 45 billion.