MUMBAI: State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, is readying to open its third branch in the US by the end of this fiscal to widen its overseas network.
The bank is understood to have received the first nod from New York State Banking Department and is likely to get approval from the US Federal Reserve Board early next year.
"We are waiting for the clearance soon and hope to open the third branch by March 2008," a senior SBI official told here.
SBI already has two full-fledged branches in the US - New York and Chicago - and a representative office in Washington.
The state-owned lender has a subsidiary in California - SBI California, which has six banks in US - Los Angeles, Artesia, San Jose, Fresno, Congoa Park and San Diego.
The third branch is expected to come up in New York, the official said, adding it will focus on corporate lending.
"The business strategy will be finalised after getting the final regulatory approval," the officer said.
SBI had applied for the license to set up its third branch in the US way back in 2005, and has had almost a three-year long wait to get the green signal.
It has been in an aggressive mood to brighten prospects in the global banking space, as part of which the bank is also planning to merge its seven associates with itself.
While the merger of State Bank of Saurashtra (SBS) has received the nod from both boards of directors, the bank is facing protests from the respective unions against merging the other six associates.
The bank is also gearing up for a rights issue in next year, through which it expects to mop up about Rs 17,000 crore, which would be used to fuel the its future growth.
At present, the bank has 33 foreign branches and seven representative offices, while its total branch strength in the country and abroad is close to 10,000. The bank dominates the country's banking industry in terms of branches, assets and number of employees. The second largest bank -- ICICI Bank -- has only around 2,000 branches in the country.
Once the consolidation is complete, SBI's balance sheet is expected to grow manifold to around Rs 800,000 crore, far ahead of its nearest competitor.
The combined balance sheet size of SBI's seven associate banks are estimated to be around Rs 200,000 crore, while the combined branch strength is around 4,820.
