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7Th September
2016
The State Bank of India (SBI) may relocate
some branches after the merger of its associate banks into its fold, but none
of them will be shut down, Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya has said in a bid
to put rumours to rest and assuage the staff. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
"I don't believe we will be closing down
any branches. This is one area that is getting a lot of adverse publicity. We
will be working with the synergies," Bhattacharya told IANS, referring to
the plans to merge five associates and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
"Obviously, if the same building has
branches of three associate banks, it doesn't make sense to keep them open. If
that branch is moved away 60 km, it will have a better reach. We will be
relocating a few of them," the Chairperson told IANS over the phone.
The merged entity, which will have a network
of more than 24,000 branches, will continue to have the same number of
branches. The idea is to leverage the synergies, she added.
"Not only the productivity can improve,
with the same number of people, we can also ensure better footprints. We can
move apart branches, send out sales teams. The customer will also have access
to a lot of cutting-edge products," she said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
The country's largest lender is looking to
add $120 billion (Rs 8 lakh crore) in assets after the merger of State Bank of
Bikaner and Jaipur, State bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank
of Hyderabad and State Bank of Maharashtra, besides the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
This will catapult SBI into the top 50 banks
globally, Bhattacharya said, expecting the process to get completed by March
2017. "There are some timelines and processes to follow. We'll make a good
effort that it gets completed by March 2017. As of now, it is a realistic
enough deadline."
The bank is already a 'Fortune 500' company.
As an outcome of the merger, the size of NPAs
(non-performing assets) will obviously swell up, she said, adding that she did
not have the numbers ready on that account.
"There are six entities involved. The
issues need to be resolved, which cannot happen with the snap of the finger.
The balance sheet is just the first thing. There's a lot of work eventually
that needs to be done."
Bhattacharya is due to retire in October,
much before the completion of the merger. The government is said to be
considering a year-long extension so that she can oversee the entire process.
"I haven't heard anything from the
government on my extension yet. But there will be changes and we need to be
prepared for it. We have a team in all of these areas. They'll continue to do
so."The Total Investment &
Insurance Solutions
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