Country?s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has prepared a blueprint to go retail in its international operations.

Such strategy would help the bank to promote its lead in syndication of loans in the overseas market, at a cheaper cost, said a senior SBI executive.

The bank?s overseas operations have been instructed to thrust more on promoting retail banking locally, he added.

?Till-date, we have been focusing more on wholesale banking in our international operations. We used to extensively indulge in inter-bank borrowings to raise funds in a bid to participate in syndications. The strategy paid us 40-60 basis points margin in the longer run,? the executive said.

We are assessing that by opening more branches across foreign locations and promoting retail services by mobilising deposits at interest rates as low as 3-3.5%, the bank will be able to increase its operating margins by 250-300 basis points in overseas markets where syndication opportunities arise often, he added.

SBI is expected to open seven new branches over next eight months in the United Kingdom where it operates six branches currently.

A branch in Jeddah is on anvil. The bank expects to open 2-3 more branches in Bahrain and few branches in South Africa in the current financial year.

Also, SBI?s Washington office is expected to get upgraded as a full-fledged branch by December 2009 and plans are afoot to open more branches across North America under the control of California State chartered subsidiary of State Bank of India (California).

SBI has also got a regulatory nod from the local authority to open three new branches in Singapore in the current fiscal. Next month, the bank is opening its second ATM in Singapore?s Changi Airport in terminal II area.

SBI is presently assessing many overseas acquisition proposals it has recently received from the global investment bankers. He said, ?However, we have no plans to buy any bank in the Far-East region or in Indonesia in the near future.? The executive said that a buy-out in Europe is not ruled out as many banks are presently available at attractive valuations.

In the current fiscal, SBI has so far participated actively in one syndication.?We expect that in the next financial year and thereafter, the syndication activities may rise phenomenally in the Euro zone,? he said.