State Bank of India (SBI) is one of the largest banks and lenders in India. It is set to expand its network by opening 400 new branches across India in the current financial year. SBI has taken this step as a part of its network expansion plan, where it has opened 137 branches in the last financial year. Out of these, it opened 59 new rural branches. In a media interview, Dinesh Kumar Khara, SBI Chairman said, “Somebody asked me if 89 percent of digital and 98 percent transactions were happening outside the branch, whether the branch is required anymore. My answer is yes. It is still required because there are newer areas which are emerging. He further added that banks remain important for offering many services like advisory and wealth management, which are best delivered in person.
The bank will be identifying locations where the opportunity exists and in those locations, they will open those branches. They plan to add almost 400 branches this year. As of March 2024, SBI has a network of 22,542 branches across India. The chairman further opened up about monetising subsidiaries and said that the bank wants to further scale the operations before listing them. Scaling would result in increased valuation and may yield better results for SBI. Among the subsidiaries being considered for the public listing are SBI General Insurance and SBI Payment Services.
During the fiscal year that ended in March 2024, SBI infused an additional capital of Rs 489.67 crore into SBI General Insurance Company Ltd. It has also introduced Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and decreased the bank’s stake from 69.95 percent to 69.11 percent. SBI General Insurance Company Ltd registered a 30.4 percent increase in net profit which reached Rs 240 crore for the financial year which ended in March 2024. This was 56 crore more than the previous year. SBI Payments is one of the largest acquirers in the country and has more than 33.10 lakh merchant payment acceptance touchpoints. The company witnessed a decline in its net profit to Rs 144.36 crore against 159.34 crore from the previous year.
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