The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected Tata Sons’ request to deregister as a Core Investment Company (CIC), sources told NDTV Profit. The decision means Tata Sons will continue to be treated as an upper-layer non-banking financial company (NBFC) and will have to comply with the regulatory requirements applicable to entities in this category, including the stock-market listing requirement.

Tata Sons was classified as an upper-layer NBFC by the RBI in 2022 and has once again been retained on the central bank’s upper-layer NBFC list for 2026-27. The classification subjects large NBFCs to enhanced regulatory oversight, with stricter requirements relating to governance, risk management and financial resilience.

The holding company had sought deregistration as a CIC after becoming debt-free, arguing that it no longer needed to remain registered under the framework. The RBI had earlier required Tata Sons to list its shares by September 2025. With the latest decision, the company will have to comply with the listing requirement unless there is a subsequent regulatory change or legal development.

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The RBI has also rejected industry demands for a higher asset threshold or for retaining a more complex risk-based methodology to determine which NBFCs should fall under the upper layer. Instead, the central bank opted for a simplified framework that primarily uses balance-sheet size as the basis for classification.

Under the revised framework, NBFCs with standalone assets of at least Rs 1 lakh crore are subject to enhanced regulatory oversight comparable in some respects to the standards applied to banks. For Tata Sons, continued upper-layer classification could therefore have significant implications for its regulatory compliance, disclosures and corporate structure.

Tata Sons has historically opposed a public listing, citing the additional compliance and disclosure obligations that would come with becoming a listed entity. As the principal holding company of the Tata Group, any eventual listing could have wider implications for the conglomerate’s ownership structure and shareholders.

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