SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said the bank is not looking at an immediate merger of its subsidiaries with itself.

“These banks (SBI’s associate banks) have their own internal strengths. Being local banks, they are considered more close to the local population and we would like them to be very strong entities in their own right.

“At some point of time, yes we will merge. But I don’t think this is the right time. Because today there are lots of challenges and those challenges are more immediate and important than merging banks,” Bhattacharya said.

We believe that these partners are doing quite well on their own. If you look at us, we are valued as one. Even if I merge them inside, my balance sheet will not go up, while the group balance sheet remains the same.

“And therefore, the valuation I get will almost remain the same. Only thing that will happen is, I can bring about greater efficiency. But I can do that even without merging, Bhattacharya added.

SBI’s subsidiaries include State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, and State Bank of Travancore.