A few months ago, there was a hot debate going on about the issuing of banking licenses. Many of the corporate houses were keenly interested to be a part of the banking system but there seems to be no development going on in the direction.

The legislation is yet to be passed and still lies in the pending list. The idea of issuing banking licenses dates back to the year 2004. The continuous delays in the process may have made most of the license aspirants to averse of the idea.

In the recent Union budget, Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, assured that the licenses will be issued very soon but they still are elusive.

"The Indian banking system has emerged unscathed from the crisis. We need to ensure that the banking system grows in size and sophistication to meet the needs of a modern economy," he said.

The guidelines have been drafted in a way to attract the houses that are seriously interested in it. Further, RBI has meticulously drafted the guidelines, considering the financial crises of 2008. It would be interesting to see when actually the banking licenses are issued.