Union Finance Minister visits State Bank of Mysore headquarter in Bangalore

State Bank of Mysore today celebrated Commemoration of Centenary Year marking 100 years of its establishment. At an impressive function held at its headquarters at Bangalore, presided over by Hon’ble Union Minister for Finance, Shri P. Chidambaram, Bank dedicated 101 new branches to the Nation, spread over the entire length and breadth of the country. Of the 101 branches, 29 are located in Rural area, 30 Semi-urban, 27 in Urban and 15 in Metro .

 Mr. Chidambaram also interacted with select Branch Managers and few customers present at the branches through   video/ linkup. On this occasion the Bank also sanctioned 801 Education Loans, loans to 100 CNG auto owners under “Green Auto Initiative”, 1517 beneficiaries at 218 villages under “Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan Scheme” (Green Toilets) and 1476 beneficiaries at 238 villages under “Solar Lamp lighting”.      Mr. Chidambaram handed over sanction letters to a few select beneficiaries under each category. The FM also honoured a few long standing depositors/ exporters & SME  customers from different segments spanning relationship from 35 to 95 years with Bank.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Finance Minister Shri. P Chidambaram highlighted the important role SBM is playing in connecting to the local population and carving out cultural identity of its own which needed to be preserved at all costs. He spoke highly about the founding fathers of the bank viz. Sir M Visvesvaraya and Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, whom he described as two titans and visionaries who thought about the welfare of the state 50-100 years ahead. Mr. Chidambaram also emphasized the need provide assistance to Retail sectors, who always have a better track record of repayment and higher capacity to save.


Earlier welcoming Mr. Chidambaram, Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Sharad Sharma spoke about the path the Bank has traversed over the last 100 years and survived due to its strong value system and modern outlook. Mr Sharma also spoke about the continued commitment of the bank in meeting its obligations towards industry, commerce, Agriculture, SME, students community and other weaker section of the population and last but not the least, in discharge of its Corporate Social Responsibility. The bank has plans to reach 1,000 branches by 31st March 2014.

Mr. S Vishwanathan, Managing Director and GE (A&S), State Bank of India,  mentioned how firmly embedded the SBM is in the psyche of the local population because of its close socio-cultural links besides banking relationship. Mr. Vishwanathan also mentioned about the close rapport the bank maintains with the State Government which enables it to garner sizeable chunk of government business.