Mumbai, Mar 5 (IANS): Cash-starved private lender Yes Bank may be rescued by a consortium led by country's largest lender State Bank of India as reports suggest that government has approved a plan in this regard to save the bank from sinking.

As per reports, SBI would soon start the process to identify other members of the consortium before a bid is made to takeover the ailing bank. Despite attempts, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar was unavailable for comments.

Following the development, YES Bank scrips jumped 25.77 per cent (at 11.52 a.m.) to hit a high of Rs 36.85 a share. Shares of state-run SBI fell 0.09 per cent to Rs 285.05 per share.

Earlier, in January, SBI chairman had suggested that some solution would be found to bail out the private lender.

Reports earlier indicated that the Hinduja Group with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP is seeking to pick up a stake in embattled Yes Bank. However, both Yes Bank and Hinduja Group have not disclosed any information regarding the same.

The fourth-largest private lender had earlier said it has delayed its third-quarter earnings as the bank is reviewing non-binding expressions of interest from four investors.

In a filing to the BSE earlier, the bank has said it received non-binding expressions of interest (EoIs) from several investors including J.C. Flowers & Co, Tilden Park Capital Management, OHA (UK) LLP (part of Oak Hill Advisors), and Silver Point Capital.

Yes Bank has borne the brunt of several ratings downgrades due to the uncertainty over its capital infusion plan. A number of rating firms have red-flagged the bank's exposure to stressed projects too.

Rating agency ICRA noted that Yes Bank's solvency profile remains weak with net NPA/CET of 36 per cent as on September 30, 2019.

Owing to uncertainty over its future, Yes Bank, once billed as a favourite of traders, has gained the reputation of being one of the biggest wealth destroyers in the market.