State Bank plans to raise Rs.20,000 crore

Kolkata, May 8 (IANS) State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, wants to raise Rs.20,000 crore in the current fiscal, a top company official said here Friday.

'SBI wants to raise Rs.20,000 crore this fiscal. Rights issue is an option,' bank chairman O.P. Bhatt told reporters on the sidelines of a book launch.

Though there are many ways to raise capital, Bhatt said he preferred to do it through a rights issue.

'We need capital for growth. There are 'x' number of ways from where we can raise capital, we need to get government clearance for that. So when the new government is in place, we will see what we can do. My preferred option would be a rights issue,' Bhatt said.

SBI is targeting an advance and credit growth of 25 percent each this fiscal, compared to 39 percent and 30 percent last fiscal.