SBI plans to merge 5 subsidiaries in 12-18 months

The State Bank of India proposes to merge its five remaining subsidiaries with itself over the next 12-18 months. In its deposition before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, the country's largest lender said the consolidation exercise has been systemically planned as part of a logical step to bring in economies of scale, reduce administrative overheads, redeploy and channelise trained manpower to business development and, in the process, also reduce avoidable competition from different arms of the same group.