India Mulls First New Bank Permits in Decade to Fund Growth

Indian authorities are exploring steps to create more, larger and stronger banks to fund what is expected to be one of the fastest paces of growth in the world for coming decades.

Officials from the Finance Ministry and central bank are discussing a variety of possible options including authorizing large companies to apply for banking licenses as long as they limit their shareholdings, incentivize non-bank finance companies to acquire full banking permits, and make it easier for foreign investors to raise stakes in state-run banks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private.