State Bank ofIndia is exploring a sale of an up to 5% stake in , withplans to complete a deal in the fiscal third quarter ending Dec. 31, Mint reported Oct. 7, citing "threepeople aware of the development," including a senior official at the bank.

The bank is in talks with private equity funds for a sale,which could bring in as much as 19.50 billion Indian rupees. SBI CapitalMarkets Ltd. is advising the bank, one of the people said.

A stake sale prior to SBI Life Insurance's IPO would help thecompany figure out an indicative price for the offering, one of the people said.

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between State Bank ofIndia and BNP ParibasCardif.

As of Oct. 6, US$1 wasequivalent to 66.77 Indian rupees.