SBI needs up to Rs 40,000 cr in 3 yrs, says chairman

India’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), will need Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore over the next three years to maintain balance sheet growth and capital adequacy norms.

“We are planning for next three years. It will be about Rs 30,000 crore-40,000 crore” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters on the sidelines of BANCON 2011. He also said the government had already committed Rs 4000 crore capital infusion for the bank.

He said the bank's capital requirement would be partly funded by its shareholders including the government, the rest would be managed through internal accruals and economising capital usage.

Chaudhuri did not comment on how the bank planed to raise these funds.

“The options will be discussed and decided by the government, whether it will be preferential allotment or rights issue,” he said.

He said the bank was not worried over its loan exposure in the power and aviation sectors. Chaudhuri reiterated the bank was not in a hurry to revise its savings deposit rate.

On the strike called by SBI employee unions, he said while the bank's financials would not have much impact, it will severely affect the lender's service quality. “Loss will not be much in rupees or paise but in terms of customer service. It is an unfortunate issue. Negotiations are going on and we hope the strike will not happen."