It needs being borne in mind that the banking licence granted by a banking regulator, such as the RBI, is the regulatory authorisation given to a bank for accepting uncollateralised deposits, at a relatively low cost, for virtually unlimited amounts, from the members of public, who may not be financially very savvy.
Moreover, the banks are also allowed to deploy a very high degree of leverage through mobilisation of deposits, on a relatively small capital base, but subject to meeting certain prudential requirements, such as capital adequacy ratio.