 "P N Vasudevan, MD, Equitas Holdings")
Financial services firm Equitas Holdings has received final licence from Reserve Bank to commence operations as a small finance bank.
"Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd (Equitas Bank) will start banking operations after receiving few other approvals from various departments of RBI and other agencies," the city-based company said in a statement.
"It is indeed a proud moment for everyone at Equitas to be a first private bank from Tamil Nadu and the city of Chennai," Equitas Holdings' Managing Director P N Vasudevan said.
"We hope to start operations in next few months with a network of around 400 branches which would be established through the year," he added.
In September, Equitas Holdings had received in-principle approval from RBI for launching the small finance bank to provide basic banking services to small farmers and micro-industries.
The company earlier this year raised Rs 2,200 crore via its initial public offer, which will be used to fund business expansion plans, to meet working capital requirements and to repay loan and other general corporate purposes.
Last month, Madras High Court had approved amalgamation of Equitas Micro Finance Ltd and Equitas Housing Finance Ltd with Equitas Finance Ltd, it said.
