State Bank of India is ‘okay’ with lowering stake in Yes Bank to 26% by the end of the current financial year, chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara.

The country’s largest lender, which was brought in by the government to bail out troubled Yes Bank two years back, currently holds 30% stake. The lock-in period for the largest shareholder in Yes Bank ends in March 2023.

The board of SBI, however, is yet to decide on whether it would hold a 26% stake in Yes Bank in the next financial year, Khara said.

“Till March 2023, we are required to hold 26% stake (in Yes Bank). If our stake comes within 26% till March 2023, I am quite okay with that. Beyond that, we have not deliberated at the board level so I am unable to comment anything relating to our further course of action,” Khara said in a post-earnings conference. 

As on June-end, SBI held a 30% stake in Yes Bank. While ICICI Bank owned 3%, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank and Bandhan Bank held between 1 and 2% stake each in Yes Bank.

In 2020, SBI led a consortium of lenders to infuse Rs 10,000 crore in Yes Bank when it approached bankruptcy. The lock-in period for the lenders to hold their shares in Yes Bank as part of a reconstruction scheme ends in 2023.  

Earlier, Yes Bank managing director and CEO Prashant Kumar said SBI could continue to hold its stake in the private lender even after the lock-in period on account of a good return on investment.

Yes Bank is raising $1.1 billion in equity capital from Carlyle and Advent International.