FUTURE READY

SBI, the largest bank in the country, has created building blocks for capturing the next growth cycle with sharper focus on risk and returns

- ANAND ADHIKARI

A decade ago, the market share of State Bank of India (SBI) in deposits and advances was around 18 per cent. Today, it is 23 per cent. The merger with five associate banks helped but, to its credit, India’s largest bank with assets of ₹36 lakh crore hasn’t lost market share in the last few years despite stiff competition from market-savvy private banks, which have doubled their market share from 15 per cent to around 30 per cent in the last one decade. SBI has also been way ahead of other public sector banks (PSBs) in creating a universal banking model, expanding retail assets, technology adoption and nurturing a high-quality human resource pool. Eighteen months ago, the government selected half-a-dozen managing directors (MDs) and Deputy MDs from SBI to fill the top slot in other PSBs such as Syndicate Bank, Indian Bank, Central Bank, Andhra Bank and Dena Bank.

The 62-year-old Chairman, Rajnish Kumar, who completes three years at the helm in October this year, is fully focused on taking these achievements forward and making the bank a nimble giant. His focus on corporate credit revamp, strengthening retail book, digitisation and creating building blocks for synergy with subsidiaries is already bearing fruit. “We are on track to exploit future opportunities,” he says sitting in his 18th-floor office at SBI Bhawan in Mumbai.