RBI Classifies Tata Sons, 16 Others as Upper-Layer NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India is like the money referee for India, and it watches over companies called NBFCs that lend money and invest.

These companies are split into different groups based on how big and important they are.

The biggest and most closely watched group is called the Upper Layer.

On Thursday, the RBI released a fresh list of 17 companies in this group for the year 2026-27.

To decide who belongs on the list, the RBI checked how the companies looked financially on March 31, 2026.

Tata Sons is the only company of its special type on the list, but it has asked to be taken off and is still waiting for an answer.

The RBI also changed its rules for making the list, which is why no list was released last year.

Two companies from the old list, PNB Housing Finance and Sammaan Capital, no longer meet the new rules but must still follow the strict requirements.

Once a company is put on the Upper Layer list, it must follow extra strict rules for at least five years.

Even if a company no longer qualifies in later years, it still has to follow those stricter rules.