The country’s Finance Ministry may sell the 11.6% stake held through the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) in the bank, Bloomberg reported.
Headquartered in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Axis Bank is a private sector bank that offers financial services to customer segments covering large and mid-sized corporates, agriculture and retail businesses.
The bank offers a wide range of products including credit cards, consumer banking, corporate banking, finance and insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, private equity and wealth management.
Axis Bank is said to have the largest ATM network among private banks in India with 12922 ATMs.
As on 31 March 2014, the bank had 2489 branches across the country. The bank also has eight international offices with branches at Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Colombo.
Commenting on the sale, sources said: "There are various options being considered, including seeking a higher dividend from cash-rich central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and dilution of stake in Axis Bank.
"All these are on the table as the fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal is sacrosanct."
In March 2014, SUUTI sold a 9% stake in the bank, a move that raised INR55bn ($823.2m).
Image: A Axis Bank branch in Mysore. Photo: courtesy of Christopher J. Fynn.
