Ruling out relaxation in new bank licences norms, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Anand Sinha said that the central bank has started the scrutiny of applications; while, the process will take some time because we are deeply examine the corporate groups. The central bank has received 26 applications from various large corporates including Tata Group, Reliance Capital and L&T Finance among others.
By adding further, Anand Sinha said that banking licence applicants have been given a transition period and we expect all applicants to comply with RBI’s requirements. The RBI will set up an external scrutiny panel after the internal scrutiny is over, he added.
Earlier in February, the RBI issued final guidelines that would govern the new set of proposed banks. As per the RBI guidelines, new banks should have a minimum equity capital of around Rs 5 billion and will not have foreign ownership of more than 49% for the first five years of operation. The rules also require that one out of every four branches opened by the new banks should be located in the rural areas.