SBI needs to raise Rs 40,000 cr in five years, says Bhatt

India's premier bank, State Bank of India (SBI), needs to raise around Rs 40,000 crore of capital over the next five-years and this would be done through a rights issue, a top bank official said today.

"In the next five-years, we need to raise somewhere around Rs 40,000-crore. This is in addition to Tier-II capital and in addition to retail earnings which account for Tier-I capital," SBI's Chairman, O P Bhatt, told reporters here.

"This number would, however, keep on changing depending upon requirements, especially of the bank's subsidiaries," he said.

Of the Rs 40,000-crore, the public sector lender was looking at raising up to Rs 20,000-crore in the next fiscal.

"In the next financial year, we are looking at a ceiling of around Rs 20,000-crore--it could be anywhere between Rs 10,000-20,000-crore," he said.

Though the bank was fairly well-capitalised at 14 per cent plus, "we always look at a slightly longer-term horizon of five-years," Bhatt said.

The bank kept updating its capital requirement for the next five-years every quarter or six-months, he added.

The bank would raise funds at an opportune time depending upon market conditions, the government's pricing and requirement of its subsidiaries, especially its insurance arm, which is unlisted, the SBI Chairman said.