State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman CS Setty on November 4 said the bank aims to expand its asset portfolio to 25 percent of India’s GDP from the current 20 percent, aligning its growth with the pace of the broader economy.
“We continuously maintain 20 percent of the GDP as our asset portfolio. Which means that our ambition is to become 25 percent,” Setty said during the post earnings press conference.
In July-September quarter, the bank has total business of Rs 100 lakh crore. Setty said there is a potentially another Rs 4-5 lakh crore business can be added during the current financial year.
On the net interest margins (NIM) front, Setty said that the bank aims to main it above 3 percent and the lender will stick to it.
In the reporting quarter, the lender has witnessed a whole bank NIMs reduction of 17 basis points (Bps) for whole bank and 18 bps for domestic NIMs. The whole bank NIMs stood at 2.97 percent and 3.09 percent for whole bank and domestic, respectively, in Q2FY26.
SBI is evaluating the M&A financing norms and preparing to send recommendations to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
“M&A financing will be under corporate lending book vertical after the norms will be finalized,” Setty said. “We know the corporates very well, and outbound acquisition finance we were doing. We don't mind collaborating with our own merchant banking unit and foreign banks for doing M&A financing.”
Setty added that after several quarters of muted activity, corporate loan growth has started to pick up, buoyed by a strong pipeline and improving credit demand. Setty said that while there were sizeable prepayments in recent quarters partly due to the lender’s decision not to match aggressive pricing and partly because several corporates chose to repay loans using surplus cash the outlook has turned positive.
“We expect to achieve double-digit growth in corporate credit over the next two quarters, supported by a robust pipeline of over Rs 7 lakh crore, including both sanctioned loans and deals under discussion,” Setty said.
The bank noted that working capital utilisation remains moderate at around 60–62 percent, leaving ample headroom for further drawdowns, while term loan disbursements continue steadily. Setty added that optimism is also supported by the view that policy rates are likely to remain unchanged until March. However, a rate cut, particularly if front-loaded in December, could prompt a reassessment of credit growth targets.
“For now, our outlook remains strong, and double-digit growth in the corporate book appears well within reach,” the Setty said.
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