The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) on Wednesday, the 2nd April, 2014 granted
"in-principle" approvals to Mumbai-based infrastructure lender IDFC
and Kolkata- based micro-finance Bandhan Financial Services for new bank
licences.
The RBI will also
consider the application of India Post, but the central bank said it would done
separately in consultation with the government.
This would be the
first time in a decade that new banking licences are handed out, since the
formation of Yes Bank & Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2004.
There were 25
companies in the running. Public sector unit IFCI and private players
such as Anil Ambani group and Aditya Birla group were among the applicants.
Bajaj Finance, Muthoot Finance, Religare Enterprises and Shriram Capital had
also applied.
The approval comes a
day after the Election Commission (EC) cleared the decks for RBI to announce
approvals for new banking licences.
The RBI had sought permission of the EC before announcing the awardees, as the model code of conduct is in place in the run up to the elections.
The RBI had sought permission of the EC before announcing the awardees, as the model code of conduct is in place in the run up to the elections.
The
"in-principle" approval granted will be valid for a period of 18
months during which the applicants have to comply with the requirements under
the banking licence guidelines and fulfil the other conditions as may be stipulated
by the RBI.
On being satisfied
that the applicants have complied with the requisite conditions, the RBI would
consider granting of a licence for commencement of banking business. Until a
regular licence is issued, the applicants would be barred from doing banking
business.
In February, the
Bimal Jalan panel, which scrutinized applications for new bank licences,
submitted its report to RBI.
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