The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) logo is pictured outside its head office in Mumbai
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday released a list of 17 large (upper layer or UL) non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), which included Tata Sons; subjecting them to enhanced regulatory requirements for at least five years and mandatory listing within three years of identification.The banking regulator released the list of NBFC which has been categorised as Upper Layer NBFC (NBFC-UL) for the year 2026-27; even as it said the status of Tata Sons would depend on the outcome of its de-registration application.“The inclusion of Tata Sons Private Limited in the list of NBFC-UL is without prejudice to the outcome of its application for de-registration, which is under examination,” the RBI said.It means Tata Sons, which is categorised as a core Investment company, must adhere to the strict guidelines of RBI and should get listed. Last year, following repeated demands for its listing as per the RBI norms, Tata Sons had applied for de-registration of its NBFC licence. However, RBI is yet to approve it.The central bank’s framework categorises NBFCs in Base Layer (NBFC-BL), Middle Layer (NBFC-ML), Upper Layer (NBFC-UL) and Top Layer (NBFC-TL) and provides the criteria to identify the NBFCs in the Upper Layer.The Shapoorji Pallonji Group which has 18% stake in Tata Sons, had been demanding for the listing to release the capital blocked in the Tata Group holding company. About 66% of Tata Sons is owned by charitable trusts and several Tata Trusts trustees have reportedly supported it’s listing. Other companies that figure in the list are REC Ltd, Power Finance Corporation Ltd, Indian Railways Finance Corporation Ltd, Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Tata Capital, LIC Housing Finance and Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, Muthoot Finance, Aditya Birla Capital, Housing & Urban Development Corporation, Mahindra Financial Services, L&T Finance, Bajaj Housing Finance, HDB Financial Services and Piramal Finance.. All of these are listed except for Tata Sons.As per the RBI’s framework of Scale Based Regulation, the UL will comprise those NBFCs that are specifically identified annually by it as warranting enhanced regulatory requirement as stringent as commercial banks. The UL consists of NBFCs having asset size of ₹1,00,000 crore and above as per the latest audited balance sheet for the financial year.In terms of the framework, once a NBFC is classified as NBFC-UL, it will be subject to enhanced regulatory requirement, at least for a period of five years from its classification in the layer, even in case it does not meet the criteria in the subsequent year/s, the RBI said in the circular.Accordingly, two NBFCs -- PNB Housing Finance and Sammaan Capital -- which were identified as NBFC- UL in the previous exercises but did not meet the criteria in the current exercise, would maintain its status quo and be subject to the enhanced regulatory requirement of NBFC-UL. Published - August 06, 2026 07:39 pm IST
