Banks from 18 countries have been permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRAs) for settling payments in Indian rupees, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

In response to a question from BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi, the MoS (Finance) Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad said SVRAs could be set up by banks of partner countries by approaching Authorised Dealer (AD) banks in India that may get permission from the RBI after the due procedure.

Karad informed that as per records, the RBI had granted approval to “domestic and foreign AD Banks in 60 cases for opening SRVAs of banks from 18 nations — Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom.”

The Indian rupee is expected to remain range-bound and trade in the band of Rs 82-83 against a US dollar in the next fortnight, the Bank of Baroda said in a report.

According to the report, the Indian rupee appreciated by 0.2 percent in March (up to March 14) after depreciating by 0.9 percent in February.

Apart from dollar weakness, foreign portfolio investments (FPI) inflow, lower trade deficit, higher forex reserves with the Reserve Bank of India are expected to support the Indian rupee.

“We expect a range of 82-83/$ in the next fortnight,” the report by Jahnavi Prabhakar, Economist at Bank of Baroda said.

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