SBI expects Rs 4,000 cr in capital infusion

Mumbai: After the Finance Ministry announced it intended to complete the state-run banks' recapitalisation effort by September, State Bank chairman Pratip Chaudhuri has said he expects Rs 4,000 crore infusion.

"We have requested for Rs 4,000 crore," he said on the sidelines of an industry event, but declined details like the route to be adopted for this.

When asked if he is confident of getting the required money -- the government has earmarked a total of Rs 14,000 crore towards capital support this fiscal--Chaudhuri answered in the affirmative.

"It came in the previous year, it should come in this year also," he said, referring to the Rs 3,004 crore the bank received last year.

The nation's largest lender raised the money through a preferential allotment of shares to the government, through which the state holding in the bank increased to 62.3 percent from the earlier 61.6 percent.

Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru had last week announced that the government would be finalising the capital infusion plan soon and complete the whole process by the end of September.

Takru had exuded confidence that it is not so difficult to pull off the process, generally carried out towards the end of a fiscal, as the money has already been allocated in the Budget.

According to some recent reports, some of the 26 state-run banks have asked for an early infusion of money due to requirements, while some also say the requirements are more than the usual.

Chaudhuri said the infusion of around Rs 4,000 crore will take the bank's total capital adequacy to over 13 percent, with the core tier-I at 9.8 percent.

The bank's total capital adequacy had stood at 11.85 percent, with the core tier-I at 8.82 percent, as on June 30 this year.

PTI