SBI hopes to get RBI nod for Doha branch soon

India's largest lender, State Bank of India, expects to receive the Reserve Bank's and Doha government's approval to set up a branch there by the first week of December, a top SBI official said.

"We hope the permission will come by the first week of next month. Currently, the proposal is under the consideration of government and Reserve Bank of India," the SBI official told PTI in New Delhi.

As part of global expansion strategy, State Bank decided to open a branch at the Qatar Financial Centre, Doha and approached the regulator for necessary permissions three months back.

Once RBI clears the proposal, SBI will approach the Doha government authorities for permission and the bank expects to start operations of the branch by March-April, the official said.

Initially, SBI plans to use the branch for wholesale banking, loan syndication and corporate advisory businesses, though later it will consider venturing into retail banking. Doha has nearly 4 lakh Indian population and many Indian corporates have operations in that country, the official said.

"Many want to route their finance operations through the SBI branch," the official said. SBI will be the second Indian bank setting up a branch in Doha after its nearest competitor, ICICI Bank which opened an office there in 2007.

As of now, the banking major has 136 overseas offices that includes 64 branches under five subsidiaries. These subsidiaries are in Indonesia (6 branches), Mauritius (12 branches), Nepal (32 branches), California (7 branches) and Canada (7 branches).