The Indian Banking Merger will be Completed March 2017: Arundhati of SBI

Arundhati Bhattacharya chief of State Bank of India stated that the merger of five associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank with the state-owned lender should be over by next March.

MUMBAI, 30th JULY 2016: "People have to understand that the change is inevitable," says Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya completely not getting effected by the nationwide bankers' strike. "There have been strikes at many occasions but we have to educate them and take them on board," she said on the sidelines of the launch SBI's wealth management offering called 'SBI Exclusif'.

Services at around 80,000 bank branches in the country were hit on Friday as employees of public sector banks went on a one-day strike to protest against the proposed merger of SBI associates with the parent among other issues.

Asked as to when the proposed merger would be complete, Bhattacharya said, "Timeline is around by the end of the financial year (for merger to get over)." On completion, the merger is likely create one of the largest banks in Asia.