Two regional rural banks sponsored by the State Bank of India will come out with IPOs soon. SBI is proposing the IPOs of two of its largest RRBs with a view to create value and increase efficiency. Of the two banks, Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank is the largest among the 14 RRBs of SBI with assets of Rs 25,000 crore and above. The other, Saurashtra Gramin Bank has assets worth Rs 7000 crore. They have more than 250 branches each. SBI can initiate proceedings to list the RRBs in the light of the amendment of the RRB Act in 2015, which allowed these banks to raise capital through IPOs. However, the combined shareholding of the sponsor bank and the government should not be lower than 51%.
