In a likely breather for the Tata Group, which has not secured an exemption from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on listing its holding company Tata Sons, the central bank has said it will soon introduce a revised framework for large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including a fresh classification system.
Tata Sons is currently classified as an upper-layer NBFC under the RBI’s existing framework.
Although the company cleared its debt of over Rs 22,000 crore by March 2024—a key reason for its classification as an upper-layer NBFC—and had sought RBI approval to deregister as an NBFC as early as August 2024, the central bank has not removed it from the upper-layer list. As of the last update in January 2026, Tata Sons continues to remain on the list, which comprises 15 entities.
The proposed framework is expected to reclassify NBFCs into upper, middle and lower layers.
Under current RBI norms, Tata Sons, a core investment company, was required to list by September 30, 2025, following the central bank’s October 2022 directive. Barring Tata Sons, all other entities have complied with this requirement.
“We are coming up with a new framework for NBFCs. Very soon, we should be doing so,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra told reporters at the customary post-policy press conference.
He added that the new framework would categorise NBFCs based on their size.
When asked specifically about Tata Sons, Malhotra declined to comment, stating that the RBI does not speak on individual entities as a matter of policy.
The listing of Tata Sons—the holding company of the $160-billion, airlines-to-software conglomerate—remains pending, with the company continuing to be privately held.
At the previous post-policy press conference, Malhotra had said Tata Sons could continue operations until its licence is cancelled, while refraining from further comment despite the lapse of the listing deadline.
Meanwhile, even if the RBI does not remove Tata Sons from the NBFC list, a potential public listing may be delayed due to a petition pending before the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the proposed IPO.
The petition has been pending for over two years, although multiple hearings have already taken place.