Ujjivan SFB Hopes to Get Nod for Universal Bank by Dec End

Mumbai: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) is expecting to receive the final decision on its universal bank licence application from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by December 2025, its managing director and chief executive officer Sanjeev Nautiyal said.

In February, Ujjivan SFB had submitted its application to the RBI for a universal bank licence.

Speaking at a press conference to unveil the bank’s expansion plans over the next five years, Nautiyal said the bank is targeting to grow its loan book to over Rs one lakh crore by FY30, triple its deposit base, and expand branch network to 1,150 from 752 as on June-end. As on Q1FY26, its total deposits stood at Rs 38,619 crore, while gross loan book was at Rs 33,287 crore.

The bank is looking at raising Rs 2,000 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) over the next 18–24 months to fund its growth plans.

“As we understand, the RBI may be at an advanced stage of processing our application, and then it will be presented to a committee of officials who will take a call on application. We are hopeful that a decision will be taken by December end,” he said. The SFB had applied for a universal bank licence in February 2025. The RBI earlier this year approved AU SFB’s application for converting into a universal bank, while Jana SFB has separately filed a universal bank license application.