At the opening of Equitas Towers in Chennai, Rangarajan pointed to the limited number of small finance banks (SFBs) in India—about 11. In his view, the existing regulatory framework offers too little encouragement for new entrants to establish lenders in this segment.

He highlighted Equitas as an example worth following, saying it had gone beyond several regulatory standards. Rangarajan would welcome a future universal banking application from Equitas and observed that many SFBs aspire to that status. His comments were suggestions, not an announcement of revised RBI rules.

Rangarajan also questioned the consolidation of Regional Rural Banks. He argued that having a single RRB in each state had diluted the institutions’ regional identity and local character.

Equitas began in microfinance, converted into an SFB during 2016 and joined the stock market in 2020. Managing director PN Vasudevan contrasted its early difficulty in securing a modest office with its move into a company-owned, multi-storey headquarters in Chennai.

For June 2026, Equitas reported gross lending of ₹47,641 crore, up 27% from a year earlier. Deposits reached ₹48,976 crore after 10% growth. Its FY27 opening-quarter profit stood at ₹184 crore, compared with a ₹224 crore loss a year earlier. The event also featured a book covering the bank’s governance and values.