Relocation, no shut down post SBI merger: Bhattacharya

To put rumours to rest and conciliate the staff, SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a bid that the largest lender of the country might relocate some branches after the merger with its associate banks, but none of them shall be closed down. The Chairperson clearly stated that she didn’t believe they would be closing down any branches. This was one area that was getting a lot of adverse publicity and they would be working with the synergies, she added.

Relocation was to leverage the synergies Bhattacharya told the media over the phone that since the same building had branches of 3 associate banks, it made no sense to keep them open and if that branch was moved away 60 km, it would have a better reach. Thereby making a point of relocating a few of them. She informed that the merged entity, which would comprise a network of over 24,000 branches, would continue to have the same number of branches. Her basic idea was to leverage the synergies.

Benefits that came along with relocation Bhattacharya further discussed about its benefits. She cited that not only would this improve the productivity, with the same number of people, it would also ensure better footprints. They could move apart branches and send out sales teams. She explained that the customer would also have access to many cutting-edge products.

The fattening of asset of the ‘Fortune 500’ SBI The State Bank of India is planning to add 120 billion dollars or Rs.8 lac cr in assets after the merger of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Patiala, State bank of Travancore, State Bank of Maharashtra and State Bank of Hyderabad besides the Bharatiya Mahila Bank. As stated earlier this would catapult SBI into the top 50 banks worldwide, expecting the process to culminate by March 2017. The Chairperson said that SBI was already a ‘Fortune 500? company and as a result of the merger, the size of NPAs or non-performing assets would undoubtedly swell up.

Is Bhattacharya retiring before the merger? Bhattacharya, who is due to retire in October, much before the merger’s completion stated that there were six entities involved and there were issues which had to be resolved, which couldn’t happen with the snap of the finger. She further added that the balance sheet was merely the first thing, there was a lot of work left to be done. The Indian government is said to be considering a year-long extension for her retirement so that Bhattacharya can oversee the entire process of the merger.

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