26 Applicants for Banking License

A total of 26 applications were received, including those from the usual corporate heavyweights like L&T, the Tata group (Tata Sons has applied, not Tata Capital), Reliance Capital, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Bajaj Finserv, Videocon (in the name of Aurangabad-based Value Industries), apart from infrastructure financier IDFC, gold loan company Muthoot Finance, realty developer Indiabulls, micro financier Bandhan and Bangalore-based Janalakshmi. SKS Microfinance, India’s only listed microfinance company, was absent, though its chief financial officer had said it would consider applying.

Among surprise entries were Noida-based little-known Smart Global Ventures and Gurgaon-based advisory services firm INMACS Management. UAE Exchange India, a remittance and foreign exchange services firm and Suryamani Financing, part of the Kolkata-based Pawan Kumar Ruia group also joined the fray.

The Department of Posts, Tourism Finance Corporation and government-owned financial institution IFCI were among the public-sector entities that applied.

Apart from these, India Infoline, Religare, Edelweiss, Magma Fincorp, Muthoot Finance and SREI Infra Finance were also on the list of aspirants. In a statement issued on Monday, India Infoline said former Corporation Bank chairman, V K Chopra, would head its banking foray.


The central bank has not formally communicated how many licences it will issue but sources indicate the number is unlikely to exceed eight.

This is the first time in more than a decade that banking licences will be issued. This is also the first time that corporate and industrial houses are being considered for entering the sector. Earlier, new banks had been allowed to be set up on the basis of 1993 guidelines and 2001 norms.