State Bank of India's board has approved raising up to Rs 20,000 crore through long-term bonds during ongoing fiscal year.
The fundraise will be either through a public issue or on a private placement basis, according to an exchange filing.
Last week, India's largest state-owned bank approved a plan to raise up to $3 billion through debt in fiscal 2025. The senior unsecured notes will be denominated in US dollars of other major foreign currencies, and raised in multiple tranches via a public offering or private placement.
The announcement comes at a time when a number public sector banks are boosting their capital reserves to meet loan demand. In January, SBI raised about Rs 5,000 crore through Basel III-compliant additional tier-I perpetual bonds.
At an ET Now's event on Tuesday, SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said that he is confident of the bank's capital adequacy. Raising capital, if needed, wouldn't be a challenge, he said.
"The return on earnings is much higher than loan book growth," Khara said. "That gives us an organic way of generating capital."
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