SBI gets approval to sell up to 10 per cent stake in SBI Life Insurance

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, said on Tuesday it had received approval for divestment of its stake in SBI Life Insurance, its life insurance joint venture, by up to 10 per cent.

The executive committee of the central board of SBI authorised the divestment on Monday, the state-run lender said in a statement to the domestic bourses.

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif, the life, property and casualty insurance arm of France's BNP Paribas SA. At present, SBI owns 74 per cent of the total capital and BNP Paribas Cardif has the remaining 26 per cent.

SBI Life Insurance has an authorised capital of Rs 2,000 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs 1,000 crore, according to its website.

Earlier in March, the Parliament had passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which seeks to increase foreign investment in private sector companies to 49 per cent from the existing 26 per cent, among other things.

Last week, SBI had announced that Insurance Australia Group (IAG) would increase its stake in their general insurance joint venture SBI General from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

SBI General, a 74:26 joint venture between SBI and Insurance Australia Group (IAG) of Australia, began operations in 2010.