State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body,[11] headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India[12] with a 23% market share by assets and a 25% share of the total loan and deposits market.[13] It is also the tenth largest employer in India with nearly 250,000 employees.[14][15][16] As of 2024, SBI has 500 million customers.[17]
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified SBI, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank as domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs), which are often referred to as banks that are "too big to fail".[18][19] SBI is the 43rd largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 163rd in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations of 2025.[20] In 2024, SBI was ranked 55th in Forbes Global 2000.[21]
The bank descends from the Bank of Calcutta, founded in 1806 via the Imperial Bank of India, making it the oldest commercial bank in the Indian subcontinent. The Bank of Madras merged into the other two presidency banks in British India, the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Bombay, to form the Imperial Bank of India, which in turn became the State Bank of India on 1 July 1955.[22] Over the course of its 200-year history, the bank has been formed from the mergers and acquisitions of more than twenty banks.[23][24] The Government of India took control of the Imperial Bank of India in 1955, with Reserve Bank of India (India's central bank) taking a 60% stake, renaming it State Bank of India.
History
The roots of the State Bank of India lie in the first decade of the 19th century when the Bank of Calcutta (later renamed the Bank of Bengal) was established on 2 June 1806. The Bank of Bengal was one of three Presidency banks, the other two being the Bank of Bombay (est. 15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras (est. 1 July 1843). All three Presidency banks were incorporated as joint stock companies and were the result of royal charters. These three banks received the exclusive right to issue paper currency till 1861 when, with the Paper Currency Act, the right was taken over by the Government of India. The Presidency banks amalgamated on 27 January 1921, and the re-organised banking entity took as its name Imperial Bank of India. The Imperial Bank of India remained a joint-stock company but without Government participation.
Under the provisions of the State Bank of India Act of 1955, the Reserve Bank of India, which is India's central bank, acquired a controlling interest in the Imperial Bank of India. On 1 July 1955, the Imperial Bank of India became the State Bank of India. In 2008, the Government of India acquired the Reserve Bank of India's stake in SBI to remove any conflict of interest because the RBI is the country's banking regulatory authority.
In 1959, the government passed the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act. This made eight banks that had belonged to princely states into subsidiaries of SBI. This was during the First Five-Year Plan, which prioritised the development of rural India.
Operations
SBI provides a range of banking products through its network of branches in India and overseas, including products aimed at non-resident Indians (NRIs). SBI has 17 regional hubs known as local head offices (LHOs), under whom are 57 administrative offices (AOs), that are located in important cities throughout India, under whom are furthermore administrative sub-offices known as regional business offices (RBOs), with each RBO having, under its direct administrative control, some 40 to 50 branches.
Listings and shareholding
As 30th September 2025, the Government of India held a 55.50% equity shares in SBI.[69] The equity shares of SBI are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange,[70] where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index,[71] and the National Stock Exchange of India,[72] where it is a constituent of the NIFTY 50.[73] Its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on the London Stock Exchange
Employees
SBI is one of the largest employers in the world with 232,296 employees as of 31 March 2024. Out of the total workforce, the representation of women employees is nearly 27%. The percentage of officers, associates, and subordinate staff was 47%, 38%, and 13% respectively on the same date. Each employee contributed a net profit of inr 2620460 during FY 2023–24.[75]
Logo
The SBI logo was designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 1971.[76] The logo was designed by Shekhar Kamat and the logotype in 14 Indian languages was designed by Mahendra Patel.[77][78] State Bank of India and all its associate banks used the same blue keyhole logo.[79] The State Bank of India wordmark usually had one standard typeface, but also utilised other typefaces. The wordmark now has the keyhole logo followed by "SBI".
Philanthropy
State Bank of India maintains a philanthropic arm named SBI Foundation which supports development initiatives in India and also with initiatives that comply under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs under corporate social responsibility.[80][81]
Awards
- State Bank of India (SBI) won the ET Company of the Year award at The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2023. The award was accepted by SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara.
- The State Bank of India (SBI) was named the World's Best Consumer Bank for 2025 by Global Finance (magazine). This marks the first time an Indian bank has received this global recognition.
See also
Further reading
External links
References
- About Us - About Us sbi.bank.in, retrieved 2025-12-17^
- govt-appoints-dinesh-kumar-khara-as-sbi-chairman-for-3-years livemint, 6 October 2020, retrieved 7 October 2020^
- SBI appoints Kameshwar Rao Kodavanti as CFO