Exposure to steel sector a concern: SBI chief

Eyes Rs 14,000-Rs 15,000 cr net profit in 2013-14

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's biggest lender admitted it was facing slippages in steel and mining sectors where it has a total pan-India exposure of Rs 19,000 crore amid mining curbs and subdued demand for steel.

“Presently, we are concerned about the steel sector. Due to recent restrictions on mining because of environment reasons or excess production, mining activity has dwindled not only in Odisha but also in Karnataka and Goa. SBI has seen slippages in steel and mining sectors but we have decided to be a little more patient as we expect mining sector to revive”, SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told newspersons here.The SBI chief said his bank has an exposure of Rs 18,000 crore in the steel sector including Rs 4000 crore in Odisha and Rs 1000 crore in the mining sector.

Pointing out that the credit deployment situation is challenging, Chaudhuri said, “Investments in power, steel, aluminium, other metals and fertilizers, the sectors that can absorb huge amount of credit, have slowed down, affecting credit offtake.”Commenting on the bank's financial performance, he said, “SBI has logged Rs 7400 crore net profit in the first half (April-September period) of 2012-13. We hope to close the fiscal with a net profit of Rs 14,000-15,000 crore, compared to Rs 11,700 crore in 2011-12.”

SBI’s total deposits in Odisha stand at Rs 42,600 crore and advances at Rs 30,000 crore with the bank maintaining a CD (credit deposit) ratio of 70 per cent.

According to Chaudhuri, SBI has offered credit of Rs 2,800 crore, Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 926 crore to the agriculture, SME (small and medium enterprises) and education sectors respectively. The bank has also extended Rs 562 crore to 78,000 self help groups (SHGs) in the state.

“SBI has extended credit to all major industrial players in the state like National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC), Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, Bhushan Steel, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), Paradip refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and J K Paper,” he said.

SBI which has a network of 695 branches in the state intends to scale it up to 700 by February. The new branches will be set up in backward districts like Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Malkangiri and Kalahandi. It has 403 branches in rural areas, 158 in semi-urban and 134 in urban locations.