The State Bank of India (SBI) has once again approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with a proposal of floating an infotech subsidiary -- SBI Infotech. This follows finance ministry shooting down the earlier proposal saying the bank should concentrate on its core business and not get into information technology.
"There seems to be a communication gap. We are not planning any dotcom outfit. The plan is to float an IT solution company for the entire SBI group. In fact, the entire banking industry can source its IT solution from the proposed subsidiary," an SBI source said.
Former SBI chairman GG Vaiday conceptualised the setting up of the IT subsidiary which was subsequently cleared by the RBI. However, the finance ministry shot it down saying the bank should not venture into unrelated activities.
State Bank has revised the proposal and sought fresh RBI nod on it.
"It is very much a related activity and is required for the entire banking industry. We have sent a detailed proposal to the RBI," sources said. The bank had planned to offer stakes in the proposed infotech subsidiary to a string of outfits.
