How India’s Biggest Bank Merger Would Stack Up in Numbers

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.’s potential takeover of IndusInd Bank Ltd. would create India’s eighth-largest lender by assets at a time when the nation is battling one of the world’s worst bad debt problems.

In what could be the country’s biggest-ever banking deal, Kotak Mahindra -- backed by Asia’s richest banker Uday Kotak -- is exploring a takeover of its smaller rival, people with knowledge of the matter said this week. A combination would boost its assets to 7 trillion rupees ($950 billion) and cement Kotak’s position as India’s fourth-largest private bank, closing the gap with Axis Bank Ltd.