Leading From Front: D. K. Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India

State Bank of India (SBI), India’s leading public sector banking and financial services company with a rich legacy of over 200 years, has been making a headway under the leadership of its chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara since late 2020. Before to his appointment to the top post at SBI, Khara was one of the managing directors of the bank. He joined SBI in 1984 as a probationary officer.

SBI provides a wide range of products and services through its various branches and outlets. SBI has nearly 46.77 crore customers, 22,266 branches and 27.58 per cent market share in debit card spends. It is also a market leader in government business with a total turnover of Rs 55.18 lakh crore in FY22. The bank also emerged as the market leader in SME financing clocking Rs 3.06 lakh crore in total SME advances during FY22.

The company is the second-largest credit card issuer in India. “With the gradual improvement in economic activity, the business of State Bank of India continued to show double-digit growth in FY2022,” said Khara.

Deposits Growth
SBI has been a consistent performer as reflected in its robust balance sheet. During FY22, SBI’s total deposits grew 10 per cent to surpass the Rs 40 lakh crore mark, of which domestic deposits grew 9.80 per cent to Rs 39.20 lakh crore. The CASA deposits grew 7.78 per cent to Rs 17.75 lakh crore contributed mainly by a sustained growth of 10.45 per cent in saving bank deposits.

Amidst the low interest rate environment, the CASA ratio of SBI stood at 45.28 per cent as of March FY2022. “During the year, SBI opened 98.75 lakh new savings bank accounts, of which 63 per cent were opened through the YONO portal/app,” said Khara.

During the fiscal under review, the advances for SBI also grew 11 per cent to Rs 28.18 lakh crore, compared to growth of 4.8 per cent in FY2021. While domestic advances grew 10.27 per cent, foreign offices advances grew 15.42 per cent. The domestic loan growth was led by robust growth of 15.11 per cent in retail personal loans, which now account for 41.6 per cent of domestic advances.

Customer Focus
SBI’s performance in FY22 reflects its continued commitment to providing innovative products and services to meet the needs of its customers while maintaining its position as a market leader. Under Khara's leadership, SBI has been focused on expanding its customer base, growing deposits, and advancing loans. This has helped to maintain its position among India’s most respected and top-performing financial companies.

Apart from growth and adoption and integration of latest technologies under Khara, SBI has maintained strong focus on its social commitments. The bank’s spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives has remained robust during the period under consideration, especially during FY22. During FY22, the total CSR spend by the bank stood at Rs 204.10 crore (1 per cent of the net profit of Rs 20,410 crore for FY2021), with Rs 102.56 crore allocated to SBI Foundation. The bank’s CSR activities for FY22 were focused on rural and slum area development, healthcare and sanitation, education, environment sustainability, tribal welfare, empowerment of women and senior citizens and supporting sports and athletes.