IDFC Ltd said its unit IDFC Bank Ltd has got a license from the Reserve Bank of India for undertaking banking business in India under Section 22(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The announcement marks the formalization of an earlier preliminary grant of banking license by the RBI last year.
In April last year, the RBI had given preliminary licenses to IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services.
India has gone slow on allowing new banks. The major banking entity to be formed in India was YES Bank in 2004.
Regulators worry that private sector banks may not be ‘conservative’ enough to be safe.