SBI May Take 3 Years To List Its General Insurance Arm: Chairman

On Tuesday, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said it will take up to three years more to list its general insurance arm, PTI reported.

The public-sector bank will list its asset management company before SBI General Insurance, Kumar added as he spoke at the India Economic Conclave organised by Times Network in Mumbai.

Last year, SBI had listed its life insurance arm and the proceeds came in handy to fight difficulties in asset quality. It is also planning to part-sell its stake in SBI Cards.

SBI General Insurance, which is a joint venture with Insurance Australia Group, has to "mature" and will await the valuation to touch Rs 50,000 crore, Kumar said.

"We are discussing but if you ask me sequentially then it will be AMC first then SBI General because. We believe that still, it is about 2-3 years away before SBI General matures," he said.

Speaking about the asset quality position, Kumar reiterated that non-performing assets had touched a peak last quarter and there will be an improvement from this quarter onwards.

On telecom exposure, Kumar said the bank had burnt its "fingers and body" in the past, but sounded more confident for the sector now.

He said the risk is a "lot less" now and also added that the bank is in a position to absorb setbacks, if any, in the future.

The bank is not getting much of demand for large projects given the state of the economy and the project loans are much smaller now, Kumar said.