Telecom sector under stress: SBI chief

Kolkata: The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday reiterated that the telecom sector was under stress and the bank was doing extra provisioning for this.

SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said, "The telecom sector is undergoing a lot of stress and the bank is extra provisioning due to this."

She said this when asked whether TRAI's decision to reduce the IUC charges would affect incumbent operators like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea which were already feeling the heat of Reliance Jio's disruptive move.

On the bank's NPA outlook for rest of the fiscal, Bhattacharya said, "We have probably reached the bottom. Slippages are under control although new sectors like telecom were showing stress".

Bhattacharya, who inaugurated the State Bank Institute of Management at New Town area here said, said the merger of the associate banks with itself was a deep structural reform.

"Results will come over a period of time. We will deliver the in the next three to four quarters as promised.

Regarding outlook of the economy post demonetisation and GST, Bhattacharya said the government would have to do some 'heavylifting' like infrastructure development.

On the institute, she said, it would impart training in banking and finance of highest standards.

The institute would not restrict entry for non-SBI people and was open to all banking finance professionals, she said.

Bhattacharya said this initiative would help the bank in retaining leadership position in the banking industry.

In future, the institute might also house an innovation lab to help start-ups, she said.

The institute would accommodate 240 students and is fully residential.

Admission for seats would start from middle management level professionals, she said.