Small BusinessSBI not eyeing acquisition of another bank: Bhatt
Country"s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said it is not looking at acquisition of any other bank outside SBI-fold, even as speculations are rife that consolidation in the banking sector may gather pace.
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"Our plan is to do consolidation within SBI group. We are not looking at any acquisition outside the group," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said here after coming out from a meeting with senior finance ministry officials.
In 2008, SBI merged State Bank of Saurastra, its associate bank. Last year, it got in-principle approval from the government to amalgamate another associate bank State Bank of Indore.
SBI initially had seven associates and with the merger of State Bank of Indore, the number would come down to five.
Besides State Bank of Indore, the other SBI associates are State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.
Asked whether RBI could increase deadline for meting provisioning against NPA, Bhatt said, there may not be relaxation in terms of percentage but there could be some relaxation as far as deadline in concerned.
"Some banks may not be able to meet the deadline...It could be extended by another year," he said.
According to the RBI, banks are required to increase provisioning against bad assets to not less than 70 per cent by September this year.