New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) The country's largest lender, State Bank of India will raise capital through rights issue in the next two-three months to fund its expansion plans, SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said Monday.


“It is on track. It will happen soon, hopefully in 2-3 months,” Chaudhuri told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.

The bank is expected to raise nearly Rs.20,000 crore through share sale to its existing shareholders to fund its expansion plans over the next two financial years.

However, Chaudhuri said the final decision on the price and the number of shares to be issued has not been taken yet.

“These things are not decided yet. We are working on it,” he said.

Currently, the government controls 59.4 percent stake in State Bank of India. In case of rights issue, the government would need to subscribe to 59.4 percent of the total rights being issued.

Under the rights issue, shares are issued by a company only to its existing shareholders, generally in the proportion of their current shareholdings.

Share price of State Bank of India slumped 4.39 percent to Rs.1,869.15 at the Bombay Stock Exchange Monday.