“We will go through the process internally in terms of weighing the pros and cons of increasing the stake, and then go back to the regulator and check if they are open to this idea,” Axis Bank executive director Subrat Mohanty said.
“There is an opportunity based on the clarification the RBI came up with in December last year,” he said, in a post-earnings analyst call Saturday.
The third largest private sector lender in terms of business has long wanted a larger holding in the insurance company but had been constrained by regulation.
“As you know, in the past we were always keen on having a higher stake. At that point in time, the regulations didn’t allow us,” Mohanty said, adding that the evaluation is now underway. “This particular evaluation will happen, and we will let you know based on our internal conversations and board approvals.”
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Axis Bank’s push to raise its stake in Max Life is not new-it has been building its position steadily for over a decade.In June 2026, Axis Bank announced a further investment of up to Rs 381 crore in Axis Max Life Insurance, taking the combined shareholding of Axis Bank and its subsidiaries-Axis Capital and Axis Securities-from 19.02% to 19.99%. Max Financial Services holds 80.01%.
Based on the last round of stake purchase, it would cost Axis about Rs 3,900 crore for the additional 10.01% to take its stake to 30%. However, valuation could change by the time the plan takes a shape.
The possibility of raising stakes comes from the RBI’s December 2025 master directions, which set out a tiered framework for bank ownership in insurance companies. Under these rules, banks must secure prior regulatory approval to hold a 20% or higher equity stake in an insurer.
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Stakes between 20% and 30% require the bank to submit a time-bound restructuring plan, while any investment up to 50% is capped at 10% of the bank’s paid-up capital and reserves. The framework is designed to keep a check on how much capital banks can deploy into underwriting risk via their insurance holdings.
The life insurer, which is not publicly listed, earned a Rs 54 crore net profit in FY26. According to the company website, it has secured 1.01 crore lives so far and manages total assets of Rs 1.75 lakh crore.
In April 2020, Axis Bank had agreed to acquire a total holding of 30% and made Max Life a 70:30 joint venture with Max Financial Services. That deal was scaled back in August 2020 to a 17% stake purchase, taking total ownership to 18% instead-a reflection of the regulatory constraints in place at the time.