Sbi Plans To Set Up Corporate Accounts Branch In Calcutta

The State Bank of India plans to set up its Corporate Account Group (CAG) branch to handle large corporate accounts on an exclusive basis in Calcutta shortly. About 22 corporate accounts will be transferred to the CAG branch in Calcutta as soon it becomes operational.

The Mumbai CAG has been operational for about a year now, while the one in Delhi is expected to commence operations on March 3. A deputy general manager to head the city CAG has already been appointed, SBI sources told Business Standard, but they refused to disclose the name of the appointee. The deputy general manager will report directly to the managing director in Mumbai.

 

The CAG branches are being set up by SBI as part of its organisational restructuring process as recommended by the Mckenzie report commissioned by the bank.

The report had pointed out that large corporates expect better and speedier services than are normally available in the State Bank. The CAG facilitates this by eliminating several hierarchical layers. Since the CAG branch reports directly to the managing director, processing of credit applications is much faster.

The new CAG branches will provide a boost to the performance of the bank in the next fiscal, SBI sources said.

These specialised branches are especially important because the bank has targeted a 16 per cent growth in credit in the next fiscal. Most of this is expected to come from large corporates involved in infrastructural projects and in sectors like telecommunications and power.

Bank officials point out that the large financing that will be required for such projects can be afforded only by a large bank like SBI unless the corporates look to the capital market for funds.

The speedier disposal of accounts in the CAG branches will enable the bank to corner a larger share of this demand.

The bank also hopes to achieve a higher deposit growth in fiscal 1998.

It has a deposit growth target of about 16 per cent and is relying on its massive branch network, goodwill and greater customer orientation to help it achieve this target.