India''s largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank, today announced that it would launch its share sale next week to raise $4.9 billion (Rs19,967.5 crore). According to, K V Kamath, CEO, the bank will use the funds to lend to the corporate and the retail sectors.

Vishakha Mulye, CFO, ICICI Bank, told a press meet in Mumbai, "We will fix the indicated price band on Monday," for the Indian offering, which is due to open for subscription from 19 June to 22 June.

ICICI will simultaneously sell American Depositary Receipts in the US.

The bank is offering shares worth Rs8,750 ($2.1 billion) each in India and in the US, with a greenshoe option for 15 per cent, taking the total offering to Rs20125 crore.

The follow-on sale will be the biggest by an Indian company, surpassing the $2.3 billion raised by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp in 2004.

Demand for loans in India has been rising at more than 26 per cent annually as the economy, Asia''s third-largest, grew 9.4 percent in the fiscal year that ended in March.

Meanwhile, HDFC Bank and UTI Bank have also announced that they would raise about $1 billion and about $600 million respectively.

DSP Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Enam Financial Consultants and JM Morgan Stanley are the Indian issue managers.