SBI looks to recover mart share

State Bank of India (SBI) would strive to regain its lost market share in two years, Chairman O P Bhatt said on his first day in office.

"We are a big bank and I want it to be a great bank by improving efficiency and quality of service. We will increase our market share back to 19 per cent from the current 17 per cent in two years," Bhatt told reporters on Saturday.

Making it clear that customer focus and quality of service would be the top priority, the new chairman admitted that "somewhere down the line there is a disconnect between bank staff and customers. The bank will lay greater emphasis on changing employee attitude and increasing the product portfolio to give customers a better deal."

SBI would step up its focus on the agriculture sector. The retail and small and medium enterprises (SME) segments are the other focus areas for the bank.

The bank expects credit to grow by over 25 per cent (29 per cent in 2005-06) in 2006-07 and deposits by 17 per cent (about 14 per cent last year).

On any possibility of a hike in lending and deposit interest rates, Bhatt said there was ample liquidity in the system and there was no pressure on the bank to raise rates. SBI raised its prime lending rate by 25 basis points to 11.25 per cent with effect from May 1, 2006.

It expects to raise Rs 2,500 crore additional capital to conform to the Basel II capital adequacy norms and also support credit growth. It had raised Rs 2,300 crore of Tier II capital in June.

It would require to allocate about Rs 2,500 crore of capital for operational risk, a new inclusion in the Basel II capital adequacy framework which also requires capital allocation for credit and market risks.

Referring to growth in business in the overseas markets, Bhatt said, "Indian businesses are growing rapidly overseas and there is also a phenomenal increase in global interest in the Indian market. SBI, being the largest Indian bank, will definitely expand business presence abroad by opening branches, offices, acquiring banks that fit business plans and forge partnerships, including joint venture, to serve the emerging needs of Indian businesses."