State Bank of India

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State Bank of India

Type	Public (BSE, NSE:SBI) & (LSE: SBID)
Founded	Calcutta, 1806 (as Bank of Calcutta)
Headquarters	Corporate Centre, Madame Cama Road, Mumbai 400 021 India
Key people	Chairman Om Prakash Bhatt
Industry	Banking Insurance Capital Markets and allied industries
Products	Loans, Credit Cards, Savings, Investment vehicles, SBI Life (Insurance) etc.
Revenue	USD 13.775 billion (2005)
Slogan	The nation banks on us
Website	www.statebankofindia.com

State Bank of India (SBI) (LSE: SBID) is the largest bank in India. It is also, measured by the number of branch offices and employees, the largest bank in the world. Established in 1806 as Bank of Bengal, it remains the oldest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent and also the most successful one providing various domestic, international and NRI products and services, through its vast network in India and overseas. With an asset base of $126 billion and its reach, it is a regional banking behemoth. The bank was nationalised in 1955 with the Reserve Bank of India having a 60% stake. It has laid emphasis on reducing the huge manpower through Golden handshake schemes and computerizing its operations.

1 Roots
- 1.1 Timelines
2 Associate banks
3 Growth
4 Fortune Global 500 Ranking - 2006
5 Group companies
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Roots

The roots to the State Bank of India are traceable to the first decade of 19th century, when the Bank of Calcutta, later renamed as the Bank of Bengal, was established on 2 June 1806. The Bank of Bengal and two other Presidency banks, namely, the Bank of Bombay (incorporated on 15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras (incorporated on 1 July 1843) were amalgamated on 27 January 1921, and the reorganized banking entity was named the Imperial Bank of India. All these Presidency banks were incorporated as joint stock companies, and were the result of the royal charters. The Imperial Bank of India continued to remain a joint stock company. Until the establishment of a central bank in India the Imperial Bank and its early predecessors served as the nation's central bank printing currency.

The Reserve Bank of India, which is the central banking organization of India, in the year 1955, acquired a controlling interest in the Imperial Bank of India and the Imperial Bank of India was christened on 30 April 1955 as the State Bank of India. This acquisition of the controlling interest was done pursuant to the provisions of the State Bank of India Act 1955, an Act enacted by the Parliament of India.

[edit] Timelines

Offices of the Bank of Bengal

June 2, 1806: The Bank of Calcutta established.
January 2, 1809: redesignated as Bank of Bengal.
April 15, 1840: Bank of Bombay established.
July 1, 1843: Bank of Madras established.
1861: Paper Currency Act passed.
January 27, 1921: all three banks amalgamated to form Imperial Bank of India.
July 1, 1955: State Bank of India formed; becomes the first Indian bank to be nationalised.
1959: State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act passed, enabling the State Bank of India to take over eight former State-associated banks as its subsidiaries.

[edit] Associate banks

There are seven other associate banks that fall under SBI. They all use the "State Bank of" name followed by the regional headquarters' name. These were originally banks belonging to princely states and were nationalised in 1959. In tune with the first Five Year Plan, emphasizing the development of rural India, these banks were integrated with the State Bank of India, to expand its rural outreach. The State Bank group refers to the seven associates and the parent bank. All the banks use the same logo of a blue keyhole. There has been a proposal to merge all the associate banks into SBI to create a "mega bank" and streamline operations.

[edit] Growth

State Bank of India has often acted as guarantor to the Indian Government, most notably during Chandra Shekhar's tenure as Prime Minister of India. With more than 9400 branches and a further 4000+ associate bank branches, the SBI has extensive coverage. State Bank of India has electronically networked most of its metropolitan, urban and semi-urban branches under Core Banking System(CBS). The bank has the largest ATM network in the country having more than 5600 in number [1]. The State Bank of India has had steady growth over its history, though it was marred by the Harshad Mehta scam in 1992.Following its arch-rival ICICI Bank, the bank has started Core banking process by which more than 4400+ branched have been completed so far. In recent years, the bank has sought to expand its overseas operations by buying foreign banks. It is the only Indian bank to feature in the top 100 world banks in the Fortune Global 500 rating and various other rankings. According to the Forbes 2000 listing it tops all Indian companies.