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Infrastructure finance company IDFC on Thursday said that it would apply for a banking licence.
“The board has taken a call to go ahead for a banking license,” Rajiv Lall, executive chairman, IDFC, said on Thursday.
IDFC is an infrastructure financing non-banking financial company (NBFC). According to analysts, NBFCs stand a brighter chance to get a bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI had released the much-awaited final guidelines on new banking licences in February.
IDFC also said that it would launch an infrastructure debt fund (IDF) in the third quarter through the asset management company (mutual fund) route.
“Meeting priority sector norms and financial inclusion as perceived by the RBI would be a challenge before the IDFC if it gets a license,” said an analyst.
“We would be able to share the size of IDF in the second quarter” Lall said.
Several other companies have launched or are looking to launch IDFs. ILF&S group and ICICI Bank have launched IDFs, while SREI Infrastructure Finance and L&T Infrastructure Finance are said to be launching IDFs in next few months.
