Jalan panel's first meet on new bank licences today

There are 26 applicants for new bank licences, including Tata Sons, L&T, Aditya Birla Group, India Post and IFCI

A high-level advisory committee screening applications for setting up new private banks is having its first meeting at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) office in New Delhi today.

The panel, headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, will devise its own procedures for screening the applications before submitting its recommendations to the central bank. In the initial screening, the aim is to ensure the primary eligibility of 'fit and proper' is met.

The external committee has former RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat, former Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman CB Bhave, and Director of the Central Board of Directors of RBI Nachiket M Mor as its members.

There are 26 applicants for new bank licences, including Tata Sons, L&T, Aditya Birla Group, India Post and IFCI.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had set January deadline for awarding of licences, but now there are indications that it may take a little longer as the central bank is still collating information on all the applicants and the screening committee is yet to vet those.

The RBI had issued guidelines for licensing of new banks in the private sector on February 22 and issued clarifications in the first week of June.

In the past 20 years, it has given licences to 12 banks in the private sector in two phases. Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank were the last two entities to get licences in 2003-04.