SBI awaits RBI nod for acquiring stake in Tata Motors Finance

The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), today said it is awaiting the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval for picking up a stake of about 30 per cent in Tata Motors Finance.

"The proposal (to pick up stake in Tata Motors Finance) is pending with RBI," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters here.

However, there were reports that SBI has shelved the plan of picking up a stake in the motor finance company as it has not got RBI's approval.

Earlier, SBI had said it was looking to acquire a 30 per cent stake in the vehicle financing arm of Tata Motors, as acquiring a stake beyond that level would require approval from the government.

"(To acquire) beyond 30 per cent, we have to go to the government for clearance. So we will take somewhere between 20 and 30 per cent. That means we need the approval only from the Reserve Bank of India," Bhatt had said.

Tata Motors Finance is engaged in financing the entire range of passenger cars and commercial vehicles manufactured by Tata Motors for over five decades.

Shares of SBI closed at Rs 2,284.3, down 0.12 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.