State Bank of India (SBI) has drawn in nearly ₹1 lakh-crore in investor bids for its ₹25,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP), according to people familiar with the development. It’s the banking giant’s first such share sale in eight years, and by the looks of it, local investors showed up in a big way.
Insurance behemoth LIC reportedly bid for over ₹5,000 crore, while mutual funds such as SBI MF, ICICI Prudential MF, and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF are said to have placed bids worth more than ₹1,500 crore each. Even HDFC Bank was among the key bidders.
A few foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), including Singapore’s GIC and Capital International, also took part in the action, though Indian institutions clearly took centre stage this time.
This marks SBI’s first QIP since 2017, when it had raised ₹15,000 crore. The fresh capital raise is still pending final approval from the Government of India, as the lender disclosed in its regulatory filing on July 17.
SBI’s stock closed at ₹829 on the same day, marginally lower by 0.35%. The bulk of the bids reportedly came in around ₹820 a share. The pricing band for the QIP was fixed between ₹806.75 and ₹831.70, with the lower end reflecting a slight 0.5% discount to the floor price set by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
“This was a chance for large funds to pick up a meaningful quantity of SBI shares—something they couldn’t have managed in the open market without affecting the stock price,” reportedly said an investment banker involved in the transaction.
In total, about 310 million shares were offered through the QIP. The scale of demand was so high that most bidders are likely to get only 20-30% of what they applied for, another banker added.
With this ₹25,000 crore infusion, SBI’s capital adequacy ratio is expected to go up by over 60 basis points from the 14.25% reported as on March 31, 2025. That said, the QIP will lead to a 3.47% dilution in the bank’s equity capital.
At present, the government holds 57.43% in SBI. Any change to this stake will depend on how the allotment pans out once approvals are in place.
Despite the dilution, analysts remain optimistic. Bloomberg data suggests the consensus 12-month target price for SBI is around ₹935—a potential upside of nearly 13% from current levels. Around 40 brokerages have given the stock a ‘buy’ rating, while only one recommends a ‘sell’.
Many attribute the strong investor interest to the bank’s steady performance, reasonable valuation, and its strong link to the broader economy’s growth trajectory.
The QIP was managed by a consortium of investment banks including Morgan Stanley, Citibank, HSBC Securities, ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Bank and SBI Caps.
