Country's leading lender State Bank of India is hoping for Rs. 4,000 crore in capital infusion from the central government. Union government had pledged to provide capital support to all PSBs to bring up their capital adequacy for Basel III norms. Mr. Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman and MD said that the two parties would be meeting soon to discuss the matter. Earlier this year, the bank received Rs. 8,000 crore of capital infusion. At the end of the last quarter, the bank had a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 13.17%, which is above the 9% mandated by the Reserve Bank of India. Commenting on rising nonperforming assets (NPA) concerns, Mr. Chaudhuri said that the bank is working on ways to reduce its NPAs. He further added, "We are asking companies having non-core assets to sell them and bring the cash. If the company is short of capital, we are asking them to get some private equity or get equity investors, and if the company is asset free and cash poor, we are positioning more loans." |