New Delhi, July 1 -- A week after raising hopes that Tata Sons Pvt. could avoid a mandatory listing, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday inserted a key definition that was absent in its updated guidelines. Now, a potential listing is dependent on the RBI's decision on Tata Sons' application to surrender its core investment company (CIC) licence.

The central bank had earlier defined indirect receipt of public funds as "funds received not directly but through associates and group entities which have access to public funds" in a 29 April circular. This definition was not there in the central bank's 24 June circular-which is still on its website-but restored in a footnote on Wednesday's updated version, with effect from 1 July 2026.

The ...