US banking giant Citi has no plans to sell its stake in Indian mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp, the Mint newspaper reported, citing a senior executive.

Instead, the Wall-Street listed bank intends to develop more collaborative partnerships among different businesses in India and the Asian region as a whole, including private banking and wealth management, Ajay Banga, chief executive of Citi in the Asia-Pacific region, was quoted as saying.

Citi, like a number of its peers, has been under pressure to spin off some of its business lines to slash costs and rebuild its finances after suffering heavy write-downs from the global credit crunch.

On the subject of a possible sale of HFDC, Mr Banga said: "We have no intention to do that. HDFC is an outstanding institution and we have no plan whatsoever to divest our stake. It has been a great investment for our shareholders.”

Citi holds an 11.81 per cent stake in HDFC.