SBI shares in focus: Lender in talks with govt for credit guarantee scheme for risky, new-age sectors

SBI also wants the inclusion of green finance in the priority sector lending mandate, but the RBI and the government are averse to the idea because of the crowding-out effects on other aspects, Tewari said.

In finance and banking, crowding-out effects refer to situations where government borrowing or intervention reduces the amount of funds available for private sector borrowing or investment.

Speaking at the CII Finance Summit in Mumbai, Tewari said SBI will soon be inaugurating a centre of excellence that will help not just itself but the broader universe of financiers with aspects like drafting policies on lending, assessing, and pricing of risk, etc.

The CoE will focus on eight sectors, including electric vehicles, high-end solar technology, green hydrogen, green ammonia, batteries, and data centres, Tewari said.

"We are telling the government to build in some guarantee schemes for the new age and riskier elements of the industry," Tewari said, without elaborating on the specifics being sought.

At present, there are credit guarantee schemes for dedicated sectors like micro, small, and medium enterprises, and also for startups, wherein financiers are provided with comfort in the form of state support if a loan were to go sour.

Tewari said the CoE will be interfacing with think tanks and multilateral institutions as well and added that the bank has signed 20 MoUs (Memorandums of Understanding) in this regard.

On the renewable energy front, Tewari said SBI has helped 3 lakh households install solar rooftops under a government scheme and added that it is planning to take it to 5 lakh.

It has done financing of over ₹70,000 crore on the renewable energy front till now, and the current book size alone is over ₹40,000 crore, he said.

The MD said many of the loans in the RE sector are being refinanced by the bond market and private equity funds, which is a healthy sign of maturing, wherein banks play the role of first financier.

About SBI

State Bank of India (SBI) is India's largest public sector bank, providing a wide range of services like retail and corporate banking, investment banking, and mortgage loans. Its history dates back to 1806, and it is headquartered in Mumbai.

SBI is a multinational entity with a vast network of branches and ATMs across India and overseas, offering both traditional and digital services such as internet banking (OnlineSBI) and the mobile app (YONO).  

SBI: Latest news

State Bank of India, alongside its subsidiary SBI Payments Services, expects to complete the modernisation of its core-banking infrastructure in the next two years, a senior bank official has said.

Speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival this month, SBI Managing Director (corporate banking & subsidiaries) Ashwini Kumar Tewari outlined the bank's roadmap to transform its legacy systems through hollowisation, microservices, modernisation, and externalisation, while maintaining the continuity, trust, and resilience that define its operations.

SBI Q2 FY26 Results

SBI reported a 10% improvement in standalone profit to ₹20,160 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The bank had earned a profit of ₹18,331 crore in the July-September quarter a year ago.

The lender's total income increased to ₹1,34,979 crore from ₹1,29,141 crore logged in the second quarter of the last fiscal year.

Interest earned during the period increased to ₹1,19,654 crore, from ₹1,13,871 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The bank's asset quality improved, with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declining to 1.73% of gross advances as of September 30, 2025, from 2.13% a year ago.

Similarly, net NPAs, or bad loans, also declined to 0.42% of the advances, from 0.53% in the year-ago period.