The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, can disburse about Rs 75,000–80,000 crore of loans to micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the West Asia conflict under the Union government's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme 5.0 scheme, according to Chairperson CS Setty.
This is the upper limit of loans that the SBI can provide, but the takers of these loans could be few, at around 30-40%." Setty told NDTV Profit in an interaction.
"The Rs 70,000–80,000 crore of loans is for MSMEs who are eligible on our books, based on ECLGS 5.0. So far, we haven't seen demand, we are waiting for the scheme to be rolled out, guidelines have been received now," he said. "My assessment is that Rs 80,000 crore may not be utilised fully, even the government assessed Rs 2.55 lakh crore could be used only in the worst-case scenario. My assessment is that 30–40% of people will be utilising, based on the current estimate," he said.
Setty, who is also the chairperson of banking lobby group Indian Banks' Association, said bankers were coordinating with the government and regulators on ways to tackle risks emanating from advanced AI models like Mythos. Setty is chairing the committee, which is consulting with banks on Mythos, chief information security officers of various banks are working together to collectively assess Mythos-based risks.
SBI, on its part, is investing in upgrading its cybersecurity and digital infrastructure, Setty said.
Loan growth across retail segments including home loans, personal loans and gold loans, he said, had been robust and the bank expects the trend to continue in FY27, targeting 13–15% year-on-year credit growth in FY27. Sharp growth seen in gold loan segment is not concerning, he said, as prices of gold have risen and customers are taking its advantage. Further, banks maintain a modest loan-to-value ratio on gold loans, further providing comfort in adverse times.
SBI is aiming to grow its deposit growth by 11-12% YoY in FY27, and targets a net interest margin of 3% in FY27. If market conditions remain stable and regulatory approvals follow, the bank will look at listing its asset management company by September 2026, he added.
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