The Reserve Bank of India has granted a Certificate of Registration to Indiabulls Ltd to operate as a Core Investment Company, as disclosed in the company filing dated 2 October 2026. The registration places Indiabulls Ltd within the central bank framework for investment holding entities that mainly fund group companies. The company has added that it is still evaluating whether the CIC framework applies to it and may surrender the certificate if it does not.
What Is a Core Investment Company as per RBI?
The Core Investment Company (CIC) is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) that mainly holds shares and securities of its group companies. CIC is the full form used in banking for this holding model. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) grants this tag only when asset and investment tests are met.
The RBI defines a CIC as an NBFC carrying on the business of acquisition of shares and securities. A group company in this framework includes subsidiaries, joint ventures, associates, promoter linked firms, related parties and any entity in which the CIC holds 20 percent or more in equity. Only direct investments shown in the balance sheet of the CIC count toward the qualifying tests. Investments made by a subsidiary in a step down subsidiary do not count.
The RBI treats a CIC as a holding arm, not as a retail lender. A CIC does not trade in its group investments except through a block sale for dilution or disinvestment. A well known example in India is Tata Sons Private Limited, which the RBI lists as a CIC. The model allows a large group to channel capital into its own subsidiaries while staying under central bank oversight.
Indiabulls Ltd Profile and the CIC Grant
Indiabulls Ltd received the Certificate of Registration (CoR) from the RBI as a CIC and disclosed the development in a filing dated 2 October 2026. The CoR is permission issued under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 for starting or carrying on NBFC business. For Indiabulls Ltd, the CoR is a regulatory classification based on its investment holding character. It is not an approval to start a new consumer facing bank or a fresh public lending operation.
Indiabulls Ltd is the present name of the company earlier known as Yaari Digital Integrated Services Limited. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs approved the name change with effect from 17 October 2025. The current structure followed a scheme of arrangement approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Under that scheme, 17 group entities, including Dhani Services Limited and Indiabulls Enterprises Limited, merged into the Yaari entity. The merged entity listed in December 2025 and is headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana.
The company now works through two broad verticals, real estate and financial services. The financial services work runs through subsidiaries and covers stock broking, asset reconstruction, digital payments and wallet infrastructure. This holding structure explains why CIC treatment arose. A parent that mainly holds stakes in and funds such subsidiaries fits the CIC description.
Readers should not confuse Indiabulls Ltd with two former group names. Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited was renamed Sammaan Capital in July 2024. Indiabulls Real Estate was renamed Equinox India Developments in the same period. The CIC certificate in this news relates only to Indiabulls Ltd, the Gurgaon based listed entity formed by the 2025 merger.
CIC Criteria: The 90 Percent Rule, 60 Percent Rule and ₹100 Crore Threshold
The RBI checks CIC status on the date of the last audited balance sheet. A company must clear all three principal tests together. The first test concerns total size. The next two tests concern where its net assets are parked.
| Test | RBI Requirement |
|---|---|
| Asset size | Total assets of ₹100 crore or more, either alone or combined with other CICs in the same group, along with holding or raising of public funds |
| 90 percent rule | At least 90 percent of net assets in investments or loans to group companies in the form of equity shares, preference shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans |
| 60 percent rule | At least 60 percent of net assets in equity shares of group companies, including instruments compulsorily convertible into equity within 10 years from issue |
Net assets for this purpose means total assets minus cash and bank balances, investment in money market instruments and money market mutual funds, advance payment of taxes and deferred tax payment. The RBI allows a small working portion for fixed assets needed for daily functioning such as office premises. Other financial investments or loans in non group companies do not help meet the tests.
The equity leg has two fine points. Units of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) held only as sponsor can count within the 60 percent equity portion. An InvIT is a pooled vehicle that holds income generating infrastructure assets. The exposure to InvITs stays limited to sponsor holdings and cannot cross the minimum holding and tenor set by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The rule keeps the focus on long term group ownership rather than market trading.
How CICs Are Regulated: Registration, Limits and Permitted Activities
The RBI governs CICs through the Core Investment Companies (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016, updated in 2025. The framework was tightened after the report of the Working Group chaired by Tapan Ray, former Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The revised rules link CIC oversight with the scale based regulation for NBFCs.
The RBI requires every company that becomes a CIC to apply for a CoR within three months. A company with assets below ₹100 crore, or a larger company that neither raises nor holds public funds, does not need registration. The RBI calls such a firm an Unregistered CIC. Its board must pass a resolution that it will not access public funds in future. Public funds here include borrowings such as commercial paper, debentures and inter corporate deposits, but do not include equity from group entities. A CIC can never accept public deposits.
A registered CIC faces narrow activity limits. Apart from group investments, it may invest only in bank deposits, money market instruments with maturity up to one year, government securities and bonds or debentures issued by group companies. It may grant loans to group companies and issue guarantees for group companies. The number of layers of CICs inside a group, including the parent CIC, is restricted to two. On capital discipline, a CIC must keep Adjusted Net Worth at or above 30 percent of risk weighted assets and keep outside liabilities within 2.5 times Adjusted Net Worth. The RBI can cancel the CoR for breach of conditions, failure to carry on NBFC business or neglect of public interest.
NBFC Parent Framework and Where CIC Fits
A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act that carries on financial business such as lending and investment. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 defines this business, and the RBI is the regulator for NBFCs. NBFC finance therefore covers credit and investment activity outside the banking licence, but under RBI registration, reporting and inspection. Every NBFC needs a CoR under Section 45IA and must meet minimum Net Owned Fund of ₹10 crore with effect from 1 October 2022. The RBI maintains the official RBI registered NBFC list and RBI approved NBFC list to help users verify whether a lender is genuine.
A CIC sits inside this NBFC universe as a specialised holding type. The contrast is simple. A standard NBFC lends to or invests in outside customers and markets. A CIC lends to or invests almost entirely in its own group. This is the core difference between CIC and NBFC in general discussion. The RBI gives CICs a separate rulebook on capital and leverage instead of the usual capital adequacy and Net Owned Fund tests applied to other NBFCs.
Types of NBFC and Scale Based Layers
The RBI groups NBFCs by activity and by scale. By activity, common types include Investment and Credit Company (NBFC-ICC), Housing Finance Company (HFC), Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC), Micro Finance Institution (NBFC-MFI), NBFC-Factors, NBFC-P2P, NBFC-Account Aggregator and Core Investment Company (CIC). By scale, the RBI uses four layers based on size, activity and risk.
| Layer | Who Stays Here |
|---|---|
| Base Layer (NBFC-BL) | Non deposit taking NBFCs below ₹1,000 crore in assets, plus NBFC-P2P, NBFC-Account Aggregator and NBFCs with no public funds and no customer interface |
| Middle Layer (NBFC-ML) | All deposit taking NBFCs, non deposit taking NBFCs with assets of ₹1,000 crore and above, HFCs, CICs, IFCs, IDF-NBFCs and Standalone Primary Dealers |
| Upper Layer (NBFC-UL) | NBFCs picked by the RBI through size and scoring, with the top ten eligible NBFCs always placed here and a five year lock in once listed |
| Top Layer (NBFC-TL) | Ideally empty, to be used only if the RBI sees very high systemic risk from an Upper Layer firm |
The RBI places CICs in the Middle Layer or Upper Layer, never in the Base Layer. Large CICs such as Tata Sons Private Limited have appeared in past Upper Layer lists alongside lenders such as Bajaj Finance Limited and LIC Housing Finance Limited. The Indiabulls registration will settle its own layer placement under these scale rules once the RBI completes supervision.
NBFC vs Bank: Key Differences
The difference between an NBFC and a bank matters because registration as an NBFC or CIC does not create a bank. An NBFC can apply for a bank licence only through a separate RBI route.
| Feature | Bank | NBFC |
|---|---|---|
| Deposits | Can accept demand deposits such as savings and current deposits | Cannot accept demand deposits and CICs cannot accept public deposits at all |
| Payments system | Part of the payment and settlement system and can issue cheques drawn on itself | Not part of the payment system and cannot issue such cheques |
| Deposit insurance | Deposits covered by Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) up to the notified limit | Deposits, where permitted, do not carry DICGC cover |
| Regulation | Licensed and supervised as banks under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and RBI Act | Registered and supervised as NBFCs under the RBI Act and scale based directions |
Key Takeaways
- The RBI granted a Certificate of Registration as a CIC to Indiabulls Ltd, disclosed on 2 October 2026.
- A Core Investment Company is an NBFC with assets of ₹100 crore or more that mainly funds group companies.
- CIC status needs at least 90 percent of net assets in group investments and at least 60 percent of net assets in group equity.
- Indiabulls Ltd was earlier Yaari Digital Integrated Services Limited and took its present name on 17 October 2025 after the merger of 17 entities.
- Registered CICs follow the Core Investment Companies (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016 and cannot accept public deposits.
