Stable banking

Mixing financial and industrial power should be avoided

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has done well not to open up the banking sector for industrial houses, at least for now. The RBI had set up an internal working group in June 2020 to examine the ownership guidelines and corporate structure in private sector banks. The group, which submitted its report later in the year, had recommended that industrial houses be permitted to promote banks after necessary amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The group also argued there were very few countries that explicitly prohibited industrial houses from setting up banks. The RBI last week announced it