New banking licenses are attracting a range of corporates and non banking finance companies (NBFCs). But RBI is not very liberal in this respect. It is believed that the central bank would begin the step by issuing only 4 banking licenses in initially and that also not in one shot.
Although an outside bench would be established to check the applicants, some main criteria for the same have already been determined.
RBI has said that “well-established corporate houses with no exposure to sensitive sectors like real estate and a diversified ownership” would be preferred. This improves the chances of NBFCs like L&T Finance, SKS Microfinance and Shriram Group making it to the first list.
The apex bank said, “RBI would cap the number of bank licences in this round at four, though these too will be given in a phased manner. Nothing has been finalised as yet since RBI’s discussions are at a preliminary stage,” said a person having knowledge of the ongoings.