The union government has accorded formal approval for the merger of State Bank of India and its 5 associate banks. Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the decision stating the cabinet had earlier in-principle cleared the merger proposal and tt had gone to the boards of various banks which have granted the approvals. The recommendations of the boards were considered and the cabinet cleared the proposal, he added. The 5 associate banks are State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad. With the merger, the State Bank of India is expected to become a global bank with an asset base of Rs 37 trillion or over $555 billion, 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers. Earlier, another associate bank, State Bank of Saurashtra, had merged with the parent in 2008 and State Bank of Indore two years later. There was a proposal to merge the Baratiya Mahila Bank too with SBI, but Jaitley said it is under consideration as of now and the government has not taken a decision.
