SBI mulls equity capital raise in FY26; board to discuss proposal

The country's largest bank, State Bank of India, is planning to raise equity capital in the current financial year to support business growth.

 

The board, at its meeting on May 3, 2025, would discuss and approve the proposal for raising equity during FY26. The capital raising could be through Follow-on Public Offer (FPO), Rights Issue, Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) or any other mode or combination of these, SBI informed the BSE.

 

SBI's share closed 0.72 per cent lower at Rs 811.75 per share on the BSE. The board is also considering the results for the fourth quarter ended March 2025 and annual results for FY25 on May 3, 2025.

 

Its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 13.03 per cent with Common Equity Tier I (CET1) of 9.52 per cent at the end of December 2024. The CET1 does not include the net profits for April-December 2024.

 

Its gross advances rose by 13.49 per cent year-on-year to Rs 40.67 trillion at the end of December 2024.

 

The Government of India (GoI) remains the bank’s largest shareholder, accounting for a 57.43 per cent stake as on March 31, 2024. SBI received significant equity capital support from the GoI, amounting to Rs 19,874 crore during FY16-FY18, of which Rs 8,800 crore was infused in FY18, according to rating agency ICRA.

 

The bank has not received any infusion thereafter as it has remained self-sufficient, driven by its steady internal capital generating ability to fund its growth.

 

Further, SBI holds a dominant position in the Indian banking system and is required to maintain additional capital of 0.6 per cent of the risk-weighted assets (RWAs) over the minimum capital requirements, given its classification as a Domestic Systemically Important Bank (D-SIB) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).