SBI invest Rs 100 crore for new local head office at GIFT City

Formally launches international banking unit at IFSC

As part of the relocation of its local head office (LHO) to the domestic area in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), country's largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday announced its plans to invest Rs 100 crore each for developing commercial and residential facilities.

SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani laid the foundation stone for the Ahmedabad LHO, which will centralise all the operations of the bank under one roof.

"We hope for the SBI building to come up soon. In the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit, the GIFT City will get much mileage," said Rupani.

Moreover, SBI on Monday also formally launched its international banking unit (IBU) within the International Finance Services Centre (IFSC) at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar.

"We see significant business opportunities for our IBU at GIFT IFSC. We already have 198 foreign offices across 37 countries and IBU in GIFT can help in consolidation of our overseas operations in some of the geographies. This IBU will also help us in significant reductions in operating costs," she said.

While the commercial facilities will be developed on a built up area of about 200,000 sq ft for an investment of Rs 100 crore, SBI will also set up a residential tower spread over 220,000 sq ft for over 2000 employees of the bank.

According to Bhattacharya, the commercial tower will have 14 floors while the two residential towers will house 180 apartments along with seven bungalows.

"We will still have people travelling to GIFT City from Ahmedabad. Hence, I request the state government for some kind of rapid transport facility to come up quickly," said Bhattacharya, adding that the PSB was keen on partnering with Gujarat government for certain revenue collection initiatives.

Commenting on the announcement, Gujarat Chief Secretary requested the PSB to expedite commissioning of the building.