Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to classify Tata Sons as a core investment company (CIC) in the upper layer, according to its latest NBFC list released on April 10, keeping the Tata Group‘s holding company within the ambit of potential listing requirements. In FY24, Tata Sons applied to the RBI to voluntarily surrender its CIC registration and operate as an unregistered CIC, following the introduction of rules requiring CICs like Tata Sons to list on stock exchanges. In its FY25 report, the company said the regulator was still examining the application. Market observers said Tata Sons’ continued appearance in the RBI’s upper-layer CIC list suggests the request has not been accepted. “As long as the registration stands, the listing obligation remains,” said Binoy Parikh, partner at Katalyst Advisors. He added the signal is reinforced by the RBI’s draft notification, also released on April 10, prescribing a quantitative asset threshold of Rs 1 lakh crore. Tata Sons’ standalone assets stood at Rs 1.75 lakh crore as of March 31, 2025, meaning that even under the proposed framework it would remain squarely in the upper layer, Parikh said. The draft also brings govt-owned NBFCs into the upper layer under an ownership-neutral approach, making it difficult for the regulator to exempt one entity from listing while telling others that ownership is no basis for differential treatment, Parikh said. “The regulatory architecture is tightening and not loosening.” The April 10 RBI list includes 9,075 NBFCs registered as of March 31, 2026. Alongside Tata Sons, several Tata Group entities feature on the list. Tata Capital is classified as an upper-layer investment and credit company (UL-ICC) and is already listed. Tata Capital Housing Finance, Tata Industries, and Tata Investment Corporation fall in the middle layer, which is not subject to listing requirements. The Tata Group is internally divided on a potential listing of Tata Sons. Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts and promoter of Tata Sons, is not in favour of listing the company, while Tata Trusts vice chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh support such a move.
