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State Bank of India (SBI) today said it will consider merger of five associate banks in the second quarter of the fiscal.
"It is a collective decision. We have to consult the government also. Maybe in July-August we will start working on this (amalgamation of associate banks)," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said here.
"Economic logic for a merger is as strong as before we have merged the two associate banks, those banks have benefited, SBI has benefited, the country has benefited," he said.
SBI did first ever amalgamation of its associate State Bank of Saurashtra in 2008 followed by State Bank of Indore in August 2010.
The country's largest lender has five associate banks -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.
Among these, the State Banks of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore are listed companies.
Talking about the deposit growth, Chaudhuri said, it has been lower during 2012-13 as compared to previous year.
"Our deposit growth last year was close to 15 per cent about 14.85 per cent. We did not have any wholesale deposit it was all retail," he said.
During 2012-13, the bank's advances grew by 21 per cent," he added.
