The finance ministry has not received any communication with regard to reported merger of Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank, a senior government official said.
Mergers of private banks do not come to finance ministry, rather it is for the regulator to see, another official said.
The ministry has not received any expression of interest for Axis Bank by any company, the official said, when asked about reports on a possible merger of Kotak Mahindra Bank with Axis Bank.
The government indirectly holds stake in Axis Bank through public sector insurance companies and the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India. SUUTI holds about 12 percent in Axis Bank while LIC has a 14.49 percent stake.
The remaining promoter category stake is with four PSU general insurance companies and one state-owned re-insurer GIC Re.
Generally, the official said, the finance ministry does not comment on SUUTI stake sale but at the moment there is no immediate plan to sell.
On Monday, Axis Bank also clarified that "in light of repeated reports appearing in some sections of the media, we reiterate that the said news (merger between Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank) is baseless and unsubstantiated."
In 2015, Kotak Mahindra Bank completed acquisition of mid-sized private sector ING Vysya Bank for about Rs 15,000 crore. The deal was touted as India's biggest banking merger and catapulted the nation's fourth largest private bank to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore balance-sheet size entity.
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