Over two dozen public and private sector applicants, including India Post, IFCI and large business houses such as the Anil Ambani group and the Aditya Birla group, have applied for bank licences.
The RBI is expected to issue only a few bank licences after completing due diligence.
"My sense is, if all goes well we should be able to do it in a few weeks," RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan told reporters after Finance Minister P Chidambaram addressed the central bank's board meeting.
"Look, we have to (seek) the formal approval from the EC that announcing the bank licences will be okay. A number of people have said it will, but it would be best that the process is formally approved by the EC," he said, adding that the process was started last year and was not a new proposal.
Replying to questions on bank licences, Chidambaram said he had made no recommendations to the RBI, which had appointed the Bimal Jalan Committee to scrutinise the applications.