To comply with Sebi’s minimum public holding requirements, Bank of India intends to sell shares

In order to achieve the minimum public holding requirement of 25%, the state-owned Bank of India is considering the option of selling shares to investors throughout the course of the next year. At the moment, the Indian government has an 81.41 percent share in the Mumbai-based bank. To satisfy Sebi’s minimum public holding requirement, we are looking at our possibilities. Rajneesh Karnatak, managing director of Bank of India, told PTI that the decision to sell shares will, however, be based on market circumstances.
According to him, public sector banks have till August 2024 to comply with the condition set out by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Depending on the amount, the Government of India’s ownership would drop below 75% after the share sale.

Regarding the bank’s expansion, he said that loans for retail, MSME, and agricultural purposes are likely to enable credit growth reach 11–12% during the current fiscal year. He said that “we hope to grow the liability side by 10% during current financial year” with regards to the deposit.

When asked about the bank’s resource mobilisation strategy, he said that the bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, which was 16.28% in March 2023, should be enough to cover the rise in loan volume for the year. However, the board has given the go-ahead to issue bonds in order to raise up to Rs 6,500 crore in capital in FY24.

According to the board’s approval, the bank can raise up to Rs. 4,500 crore through a follow-on public offering, a qualified institutional placement, a rights or preferential issue, and/or Basel III compliant additional tier-1 (AT-1) bonds, while the remaining Rs. 2,000 crore can be raised through Basel III compliant Tier-2 bonds in one or more tranches. He said, “It will be done when the need arises and market conditions are favourable.”

Karnatak urged officials and employees to concentrate on Current Account Savings Account (CASA) mobilisation and boost non-interest revenue while making a speech at a town hall meeting here on Wednesday.

He said that in order to stay up with digitalization and improve the client experience, the bank is attempting to connect its IT and digital banking products. In the presence of Field General Manager Prashant Thapliyal and Head of Government Business D S Shekhawat, Karnatak said that each employee should concentrate on enhancing productivity and satisfying customers.