State Bank of India (SBI) on Sunday became the second bank in the world to have 10,000 branches after China?s Industrial and Commercial Bank of China when finance minister P Chidambaram inaugurated its latest branch at Puduvayal at Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is the home constituency of Chidambaram.
Delhi-based Punjab National Bank (PNB) has the second largest network in India, with about 4,500 branches, KC Chakrabarty, chairman, PNB. Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Central Bank of India are the other banks with extensive branch networks.
Chidambaram, in his inaugural address, said: ?It is a great moment for all of us. It is not an easy task for a bank to have such huge number of branch network and SBI did it in its 202 years of existence. I wish SBI to become a one-lakh branch network major in the next 50-60 years.?
People all over the world, including the Chinese, would now know about this small village where the 10,000th branch of the SBI had been opened, he said adding they would be amazed by the bank?s growth.
With the infusion of Rs 10,000 crore more into the bank?s capital, SBI will have an additional disbursal amount of more than Rs 1,60,000 crore to its credit, thereby taking its total business to over Rs 11 lakh crore during the next fiscal, he said. According to him, ?We are indebted to the farming community in India and the proposed Rs 60,000 crore waiver is what Indians owe to the farming community as a ?debt?. I would seek all your support in waiving the same,? he said. Later in response to a question, Chidambaram said that he would soon announce the ways for the same in Parliament.
In a further benefit for the people under the below poverty line, Chidambaram said that the government will soon hike its assistance to Rs 35,000 from the current Rs 25,000 for a house that costs Rs 55,000. The remaining amount will be given by the banks at a deferred interest of 4%. ?Based on the success of its pilot project, the government will replicate the same across the country,? he said.
Similarly under the free life insurance coverage for BPL family, the government has covered over one crore family so far and intend to cover one crore families in the next fiscal. The life insurance coverage to SHGs will also be increased sizeably in the next fiscal, he added.
Earlier addressing the gather, SBI Chairman OP Bhatt said: ? We intend to have 2,000 more branches in the rural India in the next two years.?