Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, Chairman, SBI

State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday launched ‘CHAKRA’ — The Centre of Excellence for Sunrise Sectors — to build institutional capability to finance industries that are still taking shape.

India’s largest Bank has placed capital requirements for the eight identified sunrise sectors — renewable energy, advanced cell chemistry & battery storage, electric mobility, green hdrogen, semi-conductors, decarbonisation, smart infrastructure and Data Centre — at about ₹100 lakh crore over the next five years.

Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, Chairman, SBI, observed that ‘CHAKRA’ is conceptualised as a lighthouse institution, which goes far beyond State Bank.

He emphasised that the new Centre will strengthen not just SBI’s internal decision-making, but the collective capacity of India’s financial ecosystem to fund emerging sectors responsibly and at scale.

Setty said: “The objective is clear — To translate technological complexity into bankable structures, to bring data, research and global best practices into financing decisions, to accelerate capital flow into sectors that will define India’s economic future.”

Of the ₹100 lakh crore capital required by the sunrise sectors, about ₹20-22 lakh crore will come from banks and non-banking finance companies. Setty observed that private equity capital, large Indian corporates, which have sufficient cash balances, multilateral institutions, and Banks from Japan, Europe and America will also participate in funding these sectors.

The Centre will facilitate structured engagement with development finance institutions, multilateral agencies, banks, NBFCs, industry bodies, corporates, start-ups, academia and policy think-tanks.

Published on January 31, 2026

SBI Chairman CS Setty
| Photo Credit:
PTI

There should be a level playing field in terms of tax treatment between bank deposits and other financial instruments, according to SBI Chairman CS Setty.

His comments come in the backdrop of bank deposit growth lagging credit growth. Banks overcoming this mismatch by raising resources through short-term certificate of deposit (CD) issuances, participating in open market operation (OMO) purchase auction of Government Securities, among others.

“But there are fiscal constraints in that (providing favourable tax treatment)…and globally also we have not seen anywhere where bank deposits are given any special treatment.

“But at the same time equity instruments are also not given a special treatment in many jurisdictions. So, in an evolving equity environment, probably those benefits were justified,” he said on the sidelines of the launch of SBI’s CHAKRA’ – Centre of Excellence (CoE) for financing sunrise sectors.

As on January 26, 2026, the year-on-year (y-o-y) deposit growth of all scheduled banks at 10.61 per cent was 237 basis points lower than credit growth of 12.98 per cent. A level playing field in tax treatment could help Banks’ mobilise deposits.

According to the latest Economic Survey, the composition of household financial savings in India has undergone a significant shift over the past decade, indicating a deeper reconfiguration in how households allocate incremental financial resources.

This transition has been marked by a gradual but persistent movement towards market-linked instruments, particularly equities, reflecting both structural changes in the financial system and evolving household risk preferences.

“The share of equity and mutual funds in annual household financial savings increased from ~2 per cent in FY12 to over 15.2 per cent in FY25. This shift has coincided with a steady rise in SIP contributions…The growing prevalence of systematic investments reflects a shift towards long-term and sustained household engagement with savings being channelled in a disciplined manner across market cycles,” the Survey said.

In contrast, the share of deposits declined from over 58 per cent in FY12 to around 35 per cent in FY25, after having fallen to as low as 31.9 per cent in FY22.

The Survey observed that this pattern suggests portfolio diversification rather than displacement, with households adding equity exposure to their existing savings rather than substituting entirely away from traditional instruments.

Meanwhile, to ensure that financing for India Inc out of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City — International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC) continues to be attractive, the upcoming Union Budget may have a proposal extending the current tax holiday on income earned by any entity from IFSC, said a senior SBI official.

Currently, Income Tax holiday for entities in the IFSC is available for 10 consecutive years out of 15 years. Some bank’s such as SBI, which opened its IFSC Banking Unit in 2016, will lose the benefit of tax holiday in 2026.

Published on January 31, 2026

K. Paul Thomas, Managing Director & CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu

Marking a return to profitability, ESAF Small Finance Bank has registered a net profit of ₹7 crore for Q3 FY26, as against a loss of ₹211 crore in the same quarter last year and a loss of ₹115.81 crore in Q2 FY26.

The total business stood at ₹44,686 crore as of December 31, 2025, registering a year-on-year growth of 10 per cent. Gross advances grew by 13.1 per cent to ₹20,679 crore, while deposits increased by 7.1 per cent to ₹24,006 crore.

K. Paul Thomas, Managing Director & CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank, said “Q3 FY26 marks a strong turnaround, driven by the successful execution of our MARG strategy—focusing on MSME, Agri, Retail and Gold lending. The sharp improvement in asset quality and return to profitability clearly validates our shift towards a more secure, granular and sustainable portfolio. With secured assets now accounting for 63 per cent of our advances and witnessing strong traction, we are building a resilient balance sheet for long-term growth. Our continued investments in technology, operational efficiency and risk management position us well to deliver consistent performance while staying true to our inclusive banking mission.”

Secured loan disbursements surged by 149 per cent to ₹10,530 crore during the quarter. As a result, secured assets now constitute 63 per cent of gross advances, up from 45 per cent a year ago, validating the Bank’s strategic focus on building a more resilient and better-quality portfolio. The bank remains on track to achieve its 70 per cent secured portfolio target by March 2027.

Asset quality saw a meaningful turnaround during the quarter, with gross NPA reducing to 5.6 per cent from 8.5 per cent in the previous quarter and net NPA declining to 2.7 per cent from 3.8 per cent. The bank added nearly 2 lakh new customers during the quarter, taking the total customer base to 99.9 lakh, reflecting strong traction across products and geographies.

Published on January 31, 2026