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The State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to shut six non-viable overseas branches in China, Sri Lanka, Oman, Saudi Arabia, France and Botswana by 2019, following directions from the Finance Ministry, leading Indian media -- DNA has reported.
India’s largest public sector bank has also decided to exit from non-core businesses in three years to improve its financial health. The plan is to divest the bank’s part form different domestic companies including IL&FS, NSE, UTI AMC (UTI Asset Management Company), CCIL, CDSL, NSDL, SIDBI, Central Warehousing Corporation and STCI Financial Ltd. SBI hopes to get a profit of Rs 5,880 crore. It has invested Rs 1,312.13 crore in 55 companies to enable them to establish as financial infrastructure institutions.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS), a wing of the Finance Ministry, has sought an “immediate implementation of the reforms agenda”. SBI met with top officials of “Bank of Baroda and Bank of India to identify geographies for consolidation of overseas operations”.
Closing processes have initiated for Tianjin (China) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). These branches are expected to be closed by September 30, 2018. Branches in Muscat (Oman), Paris (France), Jaffna (Sri Lanka) and Botswana will shut by March 2019.
More than 10 other SBI branches are under review. Tel Aviv (Israel) would continue as “branch presence is necessary due to strategic reasons including bilateral trade relating to defence procurement”.
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