The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued the final guidelines for implementation of Basel III capital regulation in India, which would be effective from January 1, 2013, in a phased manner.
The Basel III capital ratios will be fully implemented on March 31, 2018.
Banks have to maintain Tier I capital, or core capital, of at least 7 per cent of their risk weighted assets on an ongoing basis.
Under the existing capital adequacy guidelines based on the Basel II framework, banks are required to maintain Tier I capital of at least 6 per cent of their risk weighted assets.
The total capital ratio, including Tier I and Tier II, must be at least 9 per cent, unchanged from the current requirement, the RBI said in a statement, compared with the Basel III minimum requirement of 8 per cent.