Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is learnt to have received 26 applications for banking license from corporates, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other players.
The country’s leading corporates like Tata Sons, Aditya Birla Nuvo , L&T Finance Holdings, a unit of engineering major Larsen & Toubro Ltd are among the aspirants for new bank license, a statement by the RBI shows.
Financial-services groups Reliance Capital and Bajaj Finserv are also contenders for bank license. Yes Bank is the most recent recipient of a banking license in India.
Public sector undertakings like India Post, LIC Housing Finance, Tourism Finance Corp. of India are also in the fray for securing banking license.
In order to promote financial inclusion and also to develop the banking sector, the RBI, in February, issued final rules that would govern the new set of proposed banks.
According to the most recent census data, only 59 percent of households in India had access to banking services in 2011.
Unlike many countries, India doesn’t give permission for new banks to be set up on a rolling basis. Over the past two decades, the RBI has allowed only 12 new banks in two phases, with Mumbai-based Yes Bank being the last bank to get a license in 2004.
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