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Informist, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026

 

By Sagar Sen and Pratiksha

 

MUMBAI – The government may reduce its stake in Central Bank of India through an offer-for-sale or a qualified institutional placement in the second half of the current financial year ending March, a senior finance ministry official said. The move will help the bank meet the Securities and Exchange Board of India's minimum public shareholding norm.

 

"Earlier, the plan was to reduce stake in the September quarter, but now that seems unlikely. But we are also keen to reduce government shareholding. So now, the disinvestment may happen in the second half of the year," the official said. 

 

SEBI rules require all listed companies to have minimum public shareholding of 25%, and currently, four of the 12 public sector banks do not comply with the norm. The government had offloaded 8.08% stake in Central Bank of India in May. Following the sale, public shareholding in Central Bank of India stands at 18.81%.

 

"It ultimately depends on the government as to when they want to sell. Since we came with the issue recently, the next tranche may come after few months," a senior bank official said.

 

Lowering stake in these bank will also help the government shore up miscellaneous capital receipts in 2026-27 (Apr-Mar), something it has been pushing for since the start of the financial year. The government has collected INR 527.16 billion from minority stake sales so far, data from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management showed, significantly higher than the INR 168.86 billion it collected in entire FY26.

 

"We have been in constant touch with the government for stake sale through OFS," another senior bank official said. "There are talks of further stake sale but the final decision is pending with DIPAM for now."

 

On Wednesday, shares of Central Bank of India closed at INR 31.28 on the National Stock Exchange, up 0.2% higher from the previous close.  End

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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