Non-corporates should get preference in bank licences: PMEAC
"It is possible for the Reserve Bank to start with initially non-corporate business and find out whether there are suitable applicants and thereafter proceed to look at the
other applicants," he told PTI in an interview.
The RBI is in the process of finalising the guidelines for giving new bank licences after Parliament approved Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill last month.
The central bank, Rangarajan said, "should look at various types of financial institutions that are available currently and decide".
".... many of the strong private sector banks today have been at one time or other in the financial system. They can look at it first and look at the other later on," he said.
Talking about the Banking Laws Amendment Bill, he said what the new banking legislation does is giving additional power to RBI, particularly to remove the directors or change the board of directors, if it feels there is something wrong.
As per the draft guidelines on new bank licences, business houses with successful track record and a minimum capital of Rs 500 crore will be allowed to set up commercial banks. Currently, the minimum capital requirement for opening a bank
is Rs 300 crore.
According to the draft guidelines, companies which are primarily engaged in the real estate business or stock broking will not be eligible for promoting a bank.
"Entities or groups having significant (10 per cent or more) income or
