Bandhan Bank Limited (NSEI:BANDHANBNK) invited offers from asset reconstruction companies (ARC) for its INR 5,000 million distressed retail mortgage portfolio to lower the share of bad loans, said people aware of the development. The bank has proposed to sell a portfolio of home loans comprising about 5,800 accounts. The aggregate principal loan book in these accounts is about INR 5,000 million, one of the persons cited above said.

The private lender has not set a reserve price but indicated that it would prefer an upfront cash offer, the same person said. The bank also informed ARCs that it would prefer to close the sale transaction by August. Bandhan Bank did not respond to ET's request for comment.