August 25, 2009

Pitching for a consolidation in the banking industry, State Bank of India chairman O P Bhatt said today the country needs at least five banks of the size of SBI to service the growing needs of the Indian economy."One way of getting size would be consolidation.

We need to kick in consolidation as quickly as possible and we should have atleast 3-5 banks as size of State Bank of India," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told a private television channel, ET Now.Admitting that Indian banks are not in a position to service the rising demands of the Indian corporates, Bhatt said, "we should have at least one, possibly two banks, which should emerge as global champion for Indian industries."