It said this would align the introduction of the rules with the start of the country's tax year, which runs from April to March. The central bank gave no other reason for the change.

The new rules have been created by international regulators to strengthen banks after the financial crisis. Under the Basel III regime, India's banks will have to hold core capital of at least seven percent of (risk weighted) assets.

The central bank had originally said in May that implementation of Basel III would begin in January. The new rules are set to be fully implemented by the end of March 2018.

Center>Copyright Reuters, 2012