SBI eyes up to 30 pc stake in Tata Motors Finance

"We have written to the Reserve Bank. We are waiting a response," Bhatt told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

SBI is eyeing around 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 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 said.

On part financing the Bharti-Zain deal, Bhatt said the bank has not committed any loans to Bharti, although it has been discussing the issue with the telecom major.
"We have not committed anything (loan to Bharti)," he said.
Last month, he had said that the acquisition of Tata Finance would enable SBI to strengthen its presence in the commercial vehicle segment and particularly to gain synergies in bus and trucks business.

SBI had acquired a majority 91 per cent stake in factoring services firm Global Trade Finance (GTFL) two years back. It is the largest bank in the country, with a total branch strength of 12,448.

The lender had reported a flat net profit of Rs 2,479 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2009 against Rs 2,478 crore in the corresponding period last year.