According to Reuters, a regulatory filing by the executive committee of the SBI’s central board has given in-principle approval to the IPO, which expected to launch in the last quarter of this year.
“The end of September is the earliest that we can contemplate going to the market subject to all regulatory approvals and clearances,” SBI Life chief executive Arijit Basu told Reuters.
SBI currently owns 70.1% of SBI Life while BNP Paribas Cardif owns 26%.
In December, the state-controlled bank agreed to sell a 3.9% stake in SBI Life to affiliates of KKR and Temasek for INR17.94bn (£219.8m $274.3m, €253.9m).
It is now considering selling a further 8% stake in SBI Life in the IPO, while BNP Paribas Cardif has said it will sell 2%.
The public listing would make SBI Life only the second listed insurance company in the country after ICICI Prudential Life Insurance which went public last September.
