SBI’s board clears record Rs 60,000 cr fundraise in FY27
Kolkata: State Bank of India said on Thursday its central board has approved plans to raise up to ₹60,000 crore in debt during the current
Kolkata: State Bank of India said on Thursday its central board has approved plans to raise up to ₹60,000 crore in debt during the current fiscal through issuances in rupee and foreign currencies.This is the largest annual fundraising programme announced by any lender so far and comes at a time when banks are increasingly tapping overseas markets.India's largest lender, with a loan book of ₹49.33 lakh crore, said in a regulatory filing that funds would be raised through a mix of instruments, including rupee and foreign currency long-term bonds, additional tier-1 (AT1) bonds and tier-2 capital.The inclusion of dollar bonds suggests SBI may look to take advantage of the Reserve Bank of India's concessional swap window, which is aimed at boosting foreign inflows and supporting the rupee.
HDFC Bank was among the first banks to raise $750 million via external commercial borrowings under the RBI scheme. More banks and public sector units such as Power Finance Corp (PFC), Rural Electrification Corp (REC) and Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) are likely to frontload their external borrowings to take benefit of the central bank facility, with inflows likely to be close to $75 billion, according to Japan's MUFG.131844036The fundraising is aimed at strengthening SBI's capital base and supporting business expansion, particularly as credit growth remains robust.The bank reported 17% loan growth in FY26, while maintaining a capital adequacy ratio of 15.4% as of end-March, with tier-2 capital at 2.07%.
The fundraising will be subject to required government approvals. In the previous fiscal, SBI raised ₹13,551 crore through tier-2 bonds in two tranches. It had also completed a
₹25,000 crore qualified institutional placement, the largest in the history of the Indian capital market. Shares of SBI rose 1.6% to ₹1,042.85 apiece on the BSE on Thursday.
The BriefWire