(HBL)
The finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to look at monetising their investment in subsidiaries by listing them at bourses after further scaling up operations so that they realise good return.
There are about 15 subsidiaries or joint ventures of PSBs lined up for initial public offering (IPO) or divestment in medium to long term, sources said.
Wherever required banks should invest funds to scale up operations of their subsidiaries or joint ventures, sources said, adding, banks can look at unlocking value at an opportune time.
As a precursor to monetisation, sources said, banks should improve governance, professional decision-making and bring in greater operational efficiency in their subsidiaries.
For example, the country’s biggest lender State Bank of India may look at listing SBI General Insurance and SBI Payment Services in the future after they scale up their operations.
SBI General Insurance Company Ltd, incorporated on February 24, 2009, earned a profit of ₹509 crore for the financial year ended March 2025.
The general insurance arm of SBI has allotted 3,71,693 equity shares of ₹10 each during the year ended March 2025. Consequently, the stake of SBI in SBI General Insurance Company Ltd has reduced from 69.11 per cent to 68.99 per cent.
SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd, which is in the merchant acquiring business, is 74 per cent owned by SBI, and the rest with Hitachi Payment Services.
SBI Payments is one of the largest acquirers in the country, with more than 33.10 lakh merchant payment acceptance touch points as of March 31, 2024, including 13.67 lakh POS (point of sales) machines, deployed across geographies.
Meanwhile, Canara Bank has already initiated the process for listing of asset management joint venture Canara Robeco AMC. Besides, it is also planning listing of its life insurance joint venture Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company.
Canara Bank has already approved the process of diluting a 14.5 per cent stake in its life insurance venture Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company.
