State Bank of India (SBIN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Very good afternoon to everyone present here and through VC. On behalf of State Bank of India, I extend a very hearty welcome to all our esteemed shareholders for this 66th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of State Bank of India being held through VC. We are pleased to have with us Shri Jnanatosh Roy, Government of India representative from Department of Financial Services, who is attending the meeting through VC from Delhi. May I now request our respected Chairman sir to please start the proceedings of the 65th -- 66th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of State Bank of India.

Thank you, Ravi. I, Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of State Bank of India, I have ascertained that the quorum for the 66th Annual General Meeting has been established. I call to order the 66th Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of State Bank of India. I would now like to introduce to the shareholders the directors present here and also through VC. Directors present here are to my right, Mr. Setty and to his right, Mr. J. Swaminathan. And Mr. Ashwani Bhatia is on my left. He is looking after Managing Director, Corporate Banking and Global Markets. And to his left is Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari. The nonexecutive directors who have joined us through VC, Dr. Pushpendra Rai, he's attending the meeting through VC.

[Foreign Language].

Shri, B. Venugopal. He is also attending the meeting through VC.

[Foreign Language].

Shri Sanjeev Maheshwari, he is also attending the meeting through VC.

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Dr. Ganesh Natrajan, attending the meeting through VC.

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And Shri Anil Kumar Sharma, representative of RBI also attending the meeting through VC.

[Foreign Language] to all. Thank you.

I now request Shri Alok Kumar Choudhary, Deputy Managing Director of Finance, to read the notice convening the 66th Annual General Meeting and the auditor's report. Alok.

SBI constituted under the State Bank of India Act, 1955, notice. The 66th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the State Bank of India will be held at the State Bank Auditorium, the State Bank Bhavan, Madame Cama Road, Mumbai 400021, on Friday, the 25th June 2021 at 3:00 p.m. The meeting will be held through video conferencing, other audiovisual means facility to transact the following business, to discuss and adopt the balance sheet and the profit and loss account of the State Bank of India made up to the 31st day of March 2021. The report of the Central Board on the working and activities of the State Bank of India for the period covered by the accounts and the auditor's report on the balance sheet and accounts Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, Corporate Center Mumbai dated 21st May 2021. As audit report is with unmodified opinion, if shareholders agree, shall we treat auditor's report as read?

As the report is clean without any qualifications, the report can be treated as read.

Thank you. Now I will request the Chairman to deliver his speech.

Thank you. Thank you, Alok. Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon to all. I'm very happy to welcome you to the 66th Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of State Bank of India. Being held at Mumbai today through video conferencing due to the unprecedented situations we are in. I feel honored to present your bank's performance highlights, achievements and some of the significant initiatives taken during financial year '21. The report of the Board of Directors and the audited financial statements of your bank as well as the State Bank Group for the year ended 31st March 2021 are already with you. And with your permission, I take these as read. I would now like to share some of the Board level changes, which have taken place during the previous year 2021. During the year, Shri Sanjeev Malhotra, Shri Bhaskar Pramanik, Shri Basant Seth and Dr. Purnima Gupta retired from the Board, consequent upon completion of their respective terms. Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Shri Ketan S. Vikamsey, Shri Mrugank M Paranjape were elected by the shareholders as Directors on the Board under Section 19, Subsection C of the SBI Act 1955. And Shri B. Venugopal was reelected as Director by shareholders under Section 19, Subsection C of the SBI Act 1955. Shri Ashwani Bhatia, Shri J. Swaminathan and Shri Ashwini Kumar Tewari were appointed as the Managing Directors by the Government of India under Section 19, Subsection B of the SBI Act 1955. Shri Rajnish Kumar retired from the office of Chairman on October 6, 2020, on completion of his tenure. Shri Arijit Basu, Managing Director supinated on 31st of October. The directors placed on the court, their appreciation for the contributions made by Shri Rajnish Kumar, the outgoing Chairman, Shri Arijit Basu, Managing Director; and the Non-Executive Directors, namely Shri Sanjeev Malhotra, Shri Bhaskar Pramanik, Shri Basant Seth and Dr. Purnima Gupta to that elevations of the Board. The directors welcome the new Managing Directors, namely Shri Ashwani Bhatia, Shri J. Swaminathan, Shri Ashwini Kumar Tewari and the new Non-Executive Directors, namely Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Shri Ketan S. Vikamsey and Shri Mrugank Paranjape on the Board. The directors expressed the gratitude for the guidance and the cooperation received from the Government of India, RBI, SEBI, IRDA and other government and regulatory agencies. The directors also thank all the valued clients, shareholders, bank and financial institutions, stock exchanges, rating agencies and other stakeholders, for their patronage and support and take this opportunity to express their appreciation for the dedicated and committed employees of the bank. Global economy has actually contracted by 3.3% in the year 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing significant loss of lives and livelihood, GDP in India contracted by 7.3% in financial year '21. India experienced a second wave of infection, with cases rising rapidly since March '21. However, the policy measures and the coordinated efforts of RBI and the government are directed towards enabling growth on a more durable basis during these difficult times, not withstanding the second wave of COVID-19 Indian economy, though its resilience is poised for a recovery in financial year '22. Bank's performance. Despite the impact of COVID-19, your bank's business growth has remained robust in financial year '21. In financial year '21, your bank's total deposit grew by 13.56% to INR 36.81 lakh crores from the previous year's level of INR 32.42 lakh crores. This growth, which is higher than the deposit growth of the all-scheduled commercial banks at 11.40% push your bank's market share up by 45 basis points to 23.9%. More importantly, the CASA deposit grew at a faster pace of 16.73% compared to the growth of 12.23% in term deposits, pushing up the CASA ratio to 46.13% an improvement of 97 basis points over financial year 2020. In financial year '21, the banking industries advances grew at a 59-year low of 5.6%, while your bank's domestic advances grew by 5.67% to INR 21.83 lakh crores compared to 3.75% growth in the financial year 2020. The whole bank advances of your bank grew to the level of INR 25.39 lakh crores in financial year 2021 from the previous year's level of INR 24.23 lakh crores. The domestic loan growth is led by retail personal loans. The retail personal loan segment grew by 16.47% in to INR 8.70 lakh crores in financial year 2021, aided by robust digital channels. Within retail, home loan grew by 10.51% to INR 5.03 lakh crores, Xpress Credit grew by 36.49%, to INR 1.93 lakh crores, and gold loan grew by 465% to INR 20,987 crores. These together constitute around 82.41% of the total personal loans, which is 1 of our major -- 1 of our focus area. Our focus on retail lending helped us cross the milestone of INR 5 lakh crores in home loan and a market share of 34.53%. The growth in Xpress Credit has also been boosted by our YONO and INB platforms. However, credit to corporate segment remained subdued and contracted by 3.02% to INR 8.1 lakh crores in financial year 2021, which is in line with the industry trend. Agri and SME loans have increased by 3.92% to INR 2.1 lakh crores and 4.24% to INR 2.7 lakh crores, respectively. With decline in corporate loan book, the share of Personal segment in the domestic loan book has increased to 39.89% from 36.19% last year. Your bank's investment portfolio increased to INR 13.62 lakh crores in financial year 2021 compared to INR 10.58 lakh crores in financial year 2020, mainly due to rise in SLR investments. Your bank part divested its stake in noncore assets and invested nearly INR 600 crores in private equity or alternative investment funds. Your bank has issued bonds to the tune of USD 600 million in January 2021 with fixed coupon of sub 2%, 1 of the lowest borrowing rates by any Indian corporate. The capital adequacy of the bank improved during the last financial year on the back of better capital planning, internal resource generation and containment of risk in the banking book. The capital adequacy position of the bank improved from 13.06% in March 2020 to 13.74% in March 2021. The Tier 1 capital has increased by 44 basis points to 11.44%. Despite financial year 2021 being an extremely challenging year, the pragmatic approach followed by the bank, coupled with the support of the customers, your bank has reported highest ever net profit of INR 20,410 crores against net profit of INR 14,488 crores in the previous year. The return on assets improved by 10 basis points to 0.48% in financial year 2021, against 0.38% in financial year 2020. And return on equity improved by 220 basis points from 7.74% to 9.94%. The bank over the last 2 financial years, was dealing with steep rise in stressed assets, all around efforts in managing stressed assets, accounts initiated in financial year 2019 continued in financial year '21 as well. Despite the outbreak of the pandemic and the consequent lockdown in financial year '21, that altered the dynamics of stressed assets recovery, including disruption in the normal proceeding certain CLT bank was able to achieve a reduction in the level of gross NPA by INR 22,703 crores by March 2021. The Corporate segment saw the largest reduction in NPAs at INR 18,530 crores. The gross NPA ratio of the bank declined to 4.98% from 6.15% in the last year. The PCR has also improved to 87.75% in financial year '21 from 83.62% in financial year 2020. Your bank is committed towards creating an environment of increased risk awareness at all levels. It also aims at constantly upgrading controls and security measures, including cybersecurity measures to ensure mitigation of various risks. Your bank has been tracking the credit portfolio very closely during the current pandemic. The bank performed customized stress testing of all portfolios, including corporate, retail personal segment, SME and agri portfolios at periodical intervals during 2020, '21. The internal control mechanism of the bank has also been strengthened, wherever required, keeping pace with the rapid digitization in your bank, the internal audit department has initiated technological interventions for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness through system dividend analytics-based audits. Being the banker to every Indian household, it was a paramount importance for your bank to take care of the safety of all our customers without compromising on service quality. During the pandemic, our wide network of 22,000-plus branches and 62,000-plus ATMs were kept functional to cater to our customers' need. As a safety measure, we carried out regular sanitization of our branch premises to contain the spread of the virus. With the launch of door-step banking, the customer can avail 10 types of services like account statement, cash withdrawal facility, live certificate submission for pensioners, et cetera. Your bank has introduced the concept of floor managers in over 2,400 branches for superior customer service. In addition to this, we also embraced digital readiness to meet our customers virtually and organized over 800 e-town hall meetings for our MSME clientele. All our employees rose to the challenge of keeping banking operations functional during this critical period and served our customers without interruption. Various new IT initiatives have also been rolled out by your bank. Your bank is using and enhancing its analytical capabilities through AIML for improving efficiency, acquiring new business and managing various risks. The falling product variants are made available through YONO platform to ensure ease of banking for customers' convenience, preapproved personal loans, preapproved Xpress Credit, preapproved pension loan, Insta Top-Up Xpress Credit and Insta Top-Up for pension loans. For our corporate customers, a versatile netbanking application, YONO Venus was launched to provide a one-stop shop for customers to access 5 applications with corporate Internet banking, cash management product, supply chain financing, e-trade and e-ForEx. Your bank is also working on providing a fully digital finance solution to our business customers on the YONO business platform. A digital journey has also been introduced for ForEx rate booking and document upload facility to enhance customer convenience, which will help your bank increase income from ForEx business. The corporate social responsibility practices at SBI aim to integrate economic, environmental and social objectives to implement national priorities for social development. In financial year 2020, 1% of the net profit, that is INR 144.88 crores was year marked best CSR fund of the bank for the financial year 2021. During financial year 2021, your bank spent a total of INR 73.70 crores on various initiatives under CSR, including duration of INR 71.18 crores to SBI Foundation SB. Your bank also donated INR 11 crores to PM Care's Fund to support the COVID-19 vacation drive and also committed INR 30 crores towards various other COVID-19 relief programs. Going to concerted efforts, your bank's ESG rating has improved to BB by September '20 and further improved to A by December '20. This is a rating assigned by MSCI and international body. Your bank has integrated ESG principles in its lending process with clear criteria for go, no-go decisions. Your bank has entered into an MoU with Luxembourg Stock Exchange to add impetus to ESG-focused funds and bond markets. Your bank has undertaken extensive COVID relief measures such as distribution of ventilators, health equipment, food packets arranging for community-based testing, et cetera, both through our own branches and also through SBI Foundation. You bank has committed adequate funding to support capacity building in medical infrastructure. Additionally, SBI Foundation has launched India Health Alliance, a collaborative health care program to support the Government of India in its effort to combat current and future health care challenges in the country. Your bank's efforts in various areas of banking were acknowledged, and we won various awards during the year. To name a few, your bank was recognized as the Best Transaction Bank in India in 2020 by Asian Bankers Magazine, Singapore, for the fourth consecutive year. Your bank was also recognized as the Best Payment Bank in India in 2020 by Asian Bankers Magazine, Singapore for the second consecutive year. In recognition of its exemplary performance, your bank was chosen as the Syndicated Loan House of the Year India by the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association. SBI has also been awarded the Best Trade Finance Provider India 2021 for the ninth consecutive year by Global Finance Magazine. Though trade subsidiaries, your bank extends a wide range of financial services to its customers. The growth exhibited by the subsidiaries has been healthy year after year. On a stand-alone basis, SBI Capital Market posted a profit after tax of INR 273.25 crores for financial year 2021 as against INR 215.43 crores in financial year 2020. On a consolidated basis, SBI CAP Group posted the PAT of INR 527.10 crores in financial year '21 as against INR 334.49 crores in the previous fiscal. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited, has continued to maintain the leadership position amongst private player, and number of policies issued, which reflect mass coverage and strong market acceptance among life insurance across the country. SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited, delivered lower PAT of INR 985 crores in financial year 2021 as compared to INR 1,245 crores in financial year 2020, mainly on account of the impact of COVID-19. To cover itself against future credit risk, the company has made higher provisions and overall management overlay stands at INR 297 crores in addition to the base provision of INR 1,358 crores as on March 2021. SBI Funds Management Private Limited, the asset management company of SBI Mutual Fund is amongst the fastest-growing AMCs and rank first in the MF industry with a growth of over 35% against an industry average of 18.8% in financial year 2021. SBI General Insurance Company Limited has achieved gross return premium of INR 8,312 crores in financial 2021 as against INR 6,840 crores in financial year 2020. The company registered growth of 22%, and the market share has also gone up. SBI Global Factors Limited a leading provider of factoring services for domestic and international trade registered a turnover of INR 4,352 crores for financial year 2021 as compared to the turnover of INR 4,394 crores in financial year 2020. SBI Pension Fund Private Limited maintained lead position in terms of assessment under management among the PFMs in both government and private sector. The total AUM of the company as on 31st March '21 was INR 2,22,615 crores as against INR 1,60,491 crores, as on 31st March 2020, translating into a Y-o-Y growth of 39%. Financial year '21 was an exceptionally challenging year for the entire world. Despite this, your bank was able to function against all odds with minimal disruption for the customers. The business continuity plan that were chalked out, have worked well for the bank and this is reflected in various parameters of the bank's performance in financial year '21. Notably, bank has achieved high level of digitization with share of alternate channels in total transaction increasing to 93% in financial year '21, thereby converting a challenging situation into an opportunity. The current financial year has begun with unexpected second wave of COVID-19 infections. Although the containment strategy this time, including avoiding complete lockdown and managing the situations through micro containment zones, the impact on the economy will nevertheless be felt. In the current financial year, bank will continue to accelerate its digital agenda. The scope and reach of YONO will be expanded further. With the rollout of prepackage insolvency for resolution, resumption of courts and formation of national asset reconstruction company, efforts will be in full force to keep the momentum in stressed assets recovery in the current financial year. The bank is comfortably placed in terms of growth capital. The opportunities for lending in promising sectors will be explored to diversify the portfolio and contain the risk. In conclusion, the bank adjusted to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and is better positioned to tackle any subsequent wave. I'm cautiously optimistic that the performance trajectory for financial year '21 will continue in financial year '22 as well. Let me end with this quote by happy status. It is our attitude towards event, not event themselves, which we can control. Thank you very much for listening to me so patiently. Thank you.

Now I request our Deputy MD Finance to briefly explain the e-voting procedure.

The Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I shall now explain brief the e-voting procedure. As you are aware, any shareholder with 50 shares and above, registered in his/her own right, either a sole holder or as first time holder when jointly held in the register of shareholders of the bank for a minimum period of 3 months prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting, that is March 24, 2021, and who continues to be a shareholder with minimum safety sales in the register of the bank, shareholders as on the date of meeting is eligible to vote on the resolution and will have 1 vote for each block of 50 shares held by him/her. All shareholders entitled to vote as detailed above can cast their vote through remote e-voting. Only those shareholders who are present in the Annual General Meeting through VC or other audiovisual means and who have not caused their vote on the resolution through remote e-voting are eligible to vote through e-voting system provided by NSDL during the Annual General Meeting. NSDL e-voting platform be as resolution for adoption of audited annual accounts for the FY 2020, '21. You can cast your vote by selecting appropriate options that is assent to dissent, verify, modify the number of shares for which you wish to cast to your vote and click on Submit and also confirm when prompted on NSDL platform, https://www.evoting.nsdl.com. The e-voting will be conducted under the supervision of Chief Financial Officer, the Polling Supervisor and the Chief General Manager of Compliance, the Accounting Supervisor during the Annual General Meeting and will come to an end at 5 p.m. The scrutinizers C.S. Raj Kumar, R. Tewari and Mrs. Mehta & Mehta appointed by the Central Board after conclusion of the e-voting at the Annual General Meeting will unblock remote e-voting and Submit consolidated scrutinizer's report within 2 working days of conclusion of the Annual General Meeting to the Chairman or a person authorized by him in writing who shall countersign the same. Thank you.

Agenda 6 is the announcement of the voting. And of course, the shareholders who have not joined AGM through VC or OAVM and have not cast their vote on the resolution through remote e-voting may cast their vote now. [Voting]

The balance sheet and the profit and loss account, the report of the Central Board on the working and activities of the bank for the period covered by the accounts and the auditors' reports on the balance sheet and accounts have been circulated to the shareholders. Our shareholders are entitled to discuss and adopt the balance sheet and the profit and loss account of the bank made up to the 31st day of March 2021. The report of the Central Board on the working and activities of the bank for the period covered by the accounts and auditor's report. I now request shareholders present here and through VC who may wish to raise questions on the balance sheet and the profit and loss account, the report of the Center Board of Directors and the auditor's report to raise their questions. I would like to state that the question should be brief and confined only to the scope indicated by me. Those shareholders who have registered themselves as a speaker till 22nd June 2021, by 5:00 p.m., will only be allowed to express their views, ask questions. The questions will be restricted to agenda of the meeting, that is adoption of annual accounts of the bank. May I now request General Manager, Shares & Bonds to announce the names of the speaker/shareholders.

We first will take all the questions from the speaker/shareholders. Afterwards, Chairman will give you replies to all the questions. The first question is from Ms. Ashalata Maheshwari.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Okay. [Foreign Language]

The next question is from Mr. Bharat Shah. Sir, your line has now been unmuted. Please start Bharat.

[Foreign Language] Bharatji.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. The next question is from Mr. Santosh Kumar. I would request the shareholders to keep their questions brief so that we can complete the question queue. Mr. Santosh Kumar, your line has now been unmuted. You can also put on your video, so that we can see you.

One minute. One minute, sir. [Foreign Language]

Thanks, Santoshji. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from Ms. Lekha Shah. Madam your line has been unmuted, please turn on your video and ask your question.

Hello. Can you hear me sir?

Yes, I can hear you. Please go ahead.

Respected -- thank you, sir. Respected Chairman sir, Board of Directors, and my fellow members, good afternoon to all of you, myself, Lekha Shah, Mumbai branch, Andheri. First of all, I'm very much thankful to our company secretary and his team especially, Sanjeev sir for presenting very good investor services and also sending me the annual report by email very well in such a digital situation. So I'm very grateful to our company secretary and his team. Chairman sir, congratulations for bringing various abates this year. Thank you, Chairman, sir, for explaining us well about the comeback. Chairman sir, I'm happy to see all the good deeds that you have done during this difficult times. Chairman sir, I pray to god that he showers his blessings upon you. Sir, I would like ask a few questions. My first question is, what are the benefits achieved of the margin is subsidiary in SBI? My second question is, what are the amounts and the name of the PF viewers for this NPA provision has been made? My third question is, how are we engaging our employees? So I would like to say, I strongly propose all the resolutions for today's meeting and my best wishes always to your bank and in prosperity. Thank you, sir.

Madam, could you repeat your question? You were not very audible.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. My first question, what are the benefits achieved after margin is subsidiary in SBI? My second question is, what are that amounts and the name of the PF viewers for this NPA provision has been made? My third question is how we are engaging our employees?

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam. The next question is from Mr. Yusuf Yunus Rangwala. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question.

Hello, good morning, sir. Good evening, sir. Can you hear my voice?

Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Yusuf, please go ahead.

Thank you very much, sir. I am very happy to your hear Chairman speech, sir. That was very excellent. I am very happy to be a part of this excellent bank [Foreign Language]

Thank you.

Thank you, sir. The next question is from Ms. Smita Bharat Shah. Madam you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question. Thank you.

Hello? Hello?

Yes, you are audible.

Yes, madam.

Yes, ma'am. Go ahead please.

Okay. Thank you, sir. [Foreign Language]

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you, madam. The next question is from Mr. Gautam Tiwari. Sir, please start your video, your line is now been unmuted, you can ask your question.

[Foreign Language]

[Foreign Language] Please go ahead. [Foreign Language]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Sir, Honorable Chairman [Foreign Language] I have been traveling throughout the world [Foreign Language] because of COVID, otherwise [Foreign Language] And really, right from the depth of my heart, wholeheartedly I really compliment you, I really wish that you have done the best of the thing from all the shareholders and stakeholders and from our side also directly. [Foreign Language] You will be convinced about it, it is my statement on this thing, epidemic. Sir, I am very sure you have listened so carefully and so nicely and [Foreign Language] I am very sure in the days to come [Foreign Language] Wish you a very, very happy and prosperous life. Very, very long and safe life to you and your family and to all the board and to all those who are connected with us. [Foreign Language] Thank you very much.

Thank you, Gautamji. Thank you.

Thank you. We would request the shareholders to be brief with their question so that we can address all the questions. The next question is from the line of Mr. Siddharth Guha. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question. Thank you.

Good afternoon. I am a small shareholder from Calcutta. And I personally thank the Chairman, the MDs and the SBI management team for putting the shares and bonds department for giving me an opportunity to be able to interact with you all over online. I also thank the management for giving us a substantial dividend after a long period, at least after 3 years. Now I have small -- some small questions to be asked to you. So I would like this -- I'm just giving it this thing. What is the SBI's outlook on NBFC in view of the current situation? What is the amount of outstanding GDRs as on March 31, 2021? What is the GOI holding in total GDRs issued as on March 31, 2021? What are the new initiatives planned by Bank for more extensive use of the social media in 2021, '22? And how does the bank intend to promote these for extending the coverage? How has the TBU improved the relationship of bank into its targeted clientele that is the government department, the corporates and the financial institutions? Sir, technological frauds are on the rise. What steps are being taken to safeguard the interest of the depositors? Sir, another question is that this is because I was dealing with steel sometimes ago. So what is the view of the bank on steel sector in view of the improving steel market and which is poised to improve further? Is the bank foreseeing any change in outlook on steel sector from negative list? So these are the questions which I wanted to ask. I personally thank you everybody for allowing me to interact with you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Mr. Rajeev Jha. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question.

Good afternoon to all the panelists, Chairman and other executive committee directors. There are some -- I have been the account holder of the bank since I was a student 18 years -- 50 years ago. So I have been an account holder as also one of the shareholders, small shareholder, although. There are some questions, of course the bank's performance, there is no doubt about it. It has been a tremendous performance in the current conditions. And as my previous analysts have already said, shareholders have already said, yes, dividend is a welcome relief after many, many years. So -- but Again, just for a comparison, it is not a demand. But just for comparison, I'm also a shareholder of a competitive bank, HDFC Bank on a INR 1 share, I've got a dividend of INR 6.50. So just for comparison's sake. So we would like to, if possible, make plans for either a bonus issue or at least a rights issue at a discount so that shareholders can be compensated to some extent. Second is about -- I would like to talk about the customer service. Our customer I have -- again, as a senior citizen, I do go to the branches on and off. In a medium size branch, I'm not talking of very large branches. Even in a medium size branch, you tend to get lost. There is no meet-and-greet desk where somebody can guide you. And even if there is a desk unfortunately, it is not manned at many times. I would like that customer service should be given a priority at the branch level or at the zonal office level, the local head office level. We could probably think of having a customer consultative committees at LHO level, zonal office level, the regional level so that they could visit the branches, see what kind of service is being offered and where are we lacking. In addition to this, I mean, again, this could be more of a technical issue. Probably IT would be more concerned with it. But when I go to a -- recently, it happened. I went to withdraw cash. And unfortunately, I did not carry my phone with me. Immediately when I -- going to withdraw cash, it asked me for an OTP number, OTP number always -- I mean, it creates a problem for all of us. And maybe I was not used to it. Even for a sign-in on the online platform, it is asking for an OTP number. So that means I need to have my mobile next to me. So this is something which is a practical difficulty probably this could be thought of to how to make it more convenient. I am 1 of the clients for wealth management. Now wealth management, when I go to the branch, I'm lost, there is nobody recognizing or I don't know whether it is, there's an account as a wealth management client or not, I'm not too sure. But when I enter the branch, there is nobody who recognizes me, who has to give me offer. Now every time I cannot call the Relationship Manager and Relationship Manager is sitting at LHO, which may or may not be able to give me assistance. My suggestion is that if we could have wealth management desk at some important branches, not just 1 branch, some important so that they are banned. And even if I go to a bank, not my home branch, but some other branch, but there is a counter or somebody who will attend to it. Again, on the ATM front. In the last COVID, we used to have mobile ATM services available. But this time, there was no mobile ATM service available, I don't know whether the banks as a matter of policy has decided this -- decided not to offer because we were hoping that senior citizens do not need to go out, we can withdraw cash whenever the mobile service is here, but it has not been so. So this is something which probably the bank can look at it. And the last but least I was hoping, I see many youngsters who are in startup mode right now. They need financial assistance. We could launch a -- I don't know whether 1 could be launched, specifically for start-ups, say, as a financial stretch up to INR 5 lakhs, INR 10 lakhs, just as a start-up, only for start-ups. This could be something -- would be something which the bank would be able to retrieve later when these companies or when we start-ups go into a full-fledged company, the company bank would build a goodwill, and it will be helpful in the future. That's all from my side. Thank you so much everyone and have a good evening.

Thank you very much, Mr. Rajeev Jha.

The next question is from Mr. Harihar Prasad Sinha. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question.

Good evening, sir. Respected Chairman, sir and gentlemen, shareholders. I am delighted to have an opportunity to interact with you in this association -- occasion of 66th AGM of SBI. Since the inception of the banking in India, SBI in its ancestral banking or renaissance like Bank of Bengal, there are Imperial Bank. And lastly, SBI has performed vital role in economic growth. Apart from this, government trusted to update the weaker society through mass banking, especially agriculture sector and SBI became pioneer. Kudos to you as well as the bank management to achieve new height of all its peers of Indian economy. Then you can see that without SBI rapid growth is not possible at all and banks are seeded to satisfy every type of customers. I congratulate SBI for outstanding performance in the year of 2021 during the pandemic adverse situation. Today, is the AGM and time of discussion on financial data, growth and future plan. I have gone through annual report and happy to know that after a gap of 3 years SBI distributed dividend at the rate of INR 4 per share, which is commandable and appreciable. As regard annual report, kindly refer pages 176 to 179. I encountered with the amount figures mentioned therein. As the report under defined benefit plan under sub heading implies pension plan and gratuity plan as per accrual valuation. The report reveal that current annual closing defined benefit obligation, rose to INR 106.4 crores from INR 97.4 crores from previous year having net increase of about INR 9,000 crores. I just want to know that the amount is made for bank retirees and whether the bank has any plan to distribute the amount to pensioners of bank providing enhancement of their pension. Moreover, due to excellent deployment of fund in the bond and securities, bank has surplus all the time after paying pensions to retire deployed. And the second thing, I request Mr. Chairman, to initiate and consultation with finance ministry to declare banking obliged the coronavirus this has not been declared so far as information, I have. The second is, I can appreciate the State Bank of India that during the pandemic and in future, the bank is having no terminal obligation at all with other banks. That is commendable and very good performance as we hope in future also. I again thank the bank to give me a chance to speak few words as for which I am delighted and grateful to the bank. Thanks. [Foreign Language]

Thank you, Mr. Sinha.

The next question is from the line of Mr. Pradeep Kumar Roy. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask a question. Mr. Pradeep Kumar Roy, your line is unmuted, you can speak now.

Hello?

Yes. We can hear you.

Okay. Okay. [Foreign Language]

Yes, sir. Please go ahead.

Hello?

Yes, Mr. Roy, please go ahead. Please.

Hello?

Yes, we can hear you Mr. Roy.

Hello, am I audible?

Yes, sir. You are audible.

Respected Chairman, sir, State Bank of India and other directors. Good afternoon, I am Pradeep Kumar Roy from Kolkata. At the outset, I expressed my gratitude to State Bank of India management by providing me an opportunity to attend the 66th Annual Genal meeting of SBI through APEX. I'm delighted to attend the AGM of SBI, a bank who has taken some pretty standard of banking internationally. Chairman said, as a citizen of India, I feel proud to see the fabulous growth SBI achieved under your able leadership. It is a matter of pride to see SBI achieved the never before profit under your able leadership, Chairman, sir. Chairman sir, I take this opportunity to congratulate each member of staff of State Bank of India who have despite the deadly pandemic COVID kept the banking system rolling. Chairman sir, I have seen how the employees of bank are attending office despite nonavailability of convinced and other obstacles due to lockdown. This is possible for the inspiring and human gesture of Chairman like you. Chairman sir, I'm sure in future SBI will attain further highs under your prudent and caring leadership. Sir, I'm sure the way you were trying to serve this great country through its largest bank will keep a mark in the history of banking internationally. Sir, kindly allow me put few questions. My first question is, what are the strategies planned to improve other income from treasury operations? My second question, what is the current liquidity position of the bank? And my third question is, what is the position regarding MTM provider on investment book? And my last and fourth question is, what is the yield on 10 years G Sec as on quarter 4, 2021? Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

The next question is from Mr. Chand Kishore Kapoor, sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question. Mr. Chand Kishore Kapoor? Since the shareholder is not audible, we'll come back to you later and move on to the next speaker. The next speaker is Mr. Amitava Ghosh. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question. Mr. Amitava Ghosh, you have now been unmuted. Sir, you are on mute, can you please unmute. You are unmute from our side. Yes can you please start now. We can see you, but we can't hear you. We are unable to hear you, we can see you though. Please start again sir. No. Sir, we are unable to hear you. So we'll take your question later on. The next question is from Mr. Rajendra Agarwal. Sir, you have now been unmuted. Mr. Rajendra Agarwal you can start video and...

[Foreign Language]

We can hear you now.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. Thank you very much Agarwal.

The next question is from Mr. Aloysius Mascarenhas. Sir you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question.

Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Ram Chandra, MD. Mr. Sagar and all other enterprise shareholders attending the call for our team. My fellow shareholders who are attending [Technical Difficulty]

Hello? Hello? Hello?

Madam, please ask your question.

Hello? Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Can you hear me, sir?

Yes, we can.

Just one sec. Just one sec, sir. We are just trying to clear the lines. There are two people in the line.

Yes. Yes, sir please go ahead.

[Technical Difficulty] parameters required for a good corporate governance. Our results are very good as shown in facts and figures and a good dividend of INR 4, which is really commendable seeing to the economic scenario and the pandemic, which has destroyed our economy and the world economy. In spite of that, you have declared a good dividend. Our PBT and PAT has gone up. We have gone well in all parameters. Our bank is doing well. Our NPAs have gone down, which is really robbed India of crores of rupees. We have recovered them, Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, we have received INR 9,000 crores, which is accredited to various banks ESUs. How much of that amount, our SBI has received? I would like to know, sir. And furthermore, we have done a good market cap, which is very good. And the insurance as we have deferred Dewan Housing has gone [Foreign Language] but there is a deposit insurance of INR 5 lakh investors, depositors will get -- who are fixed depositers INR 5 lakhs -- up to INR 5 lakhs. But shareholders zero. Similarly, most of the investors who are shareholders, there is no insurance for them, deposit insurance, DIGC cover is for depositors. Investors now are in the equity, equity shareholders. Now youngsters people are making that carrier investment in shares. Now if shares goes [Foreign Language] like Dewan Housing and PNB Bank and all others, we don't get anything. So my request to you sir is, why don't we have an insurance for shareholders like a deposit insurance for depositors? Shareholders lose money is the most risky job is the shares, very risky, high profit, high returns or no returns. So my request to you to put to the government a proposal for some insurance, some INR 1 lakh or INR 2 lakh per insurance. You can recover from the shares. When IPO is there, you can put some premium, okay, sir, this is my humble request. And many more questions have been asked by my predecessor shareholders, I would not like to repeat it, but I wish our company, you personally, all the Board of Directors and all the employeers all the very best in the days and years to come. One small is there about the COVID. How far it has affected our bank's profitability and our employees? How many of our employees suffered because of COVID? Was there any casualty recoveries and what compensation was paid to our employees who were suffered by COVID? With this sir, I end my speech, wishing you again, all the employees all the very best in the days and years to come. With this sir, thank you very much for patient hearing.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

The next question is from Mr. Vivek Velankar. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question. Sir, you have been unmuted.

Am I audible?

Yes, you are audible now.

Okay. This is regarding write-offs. See, I have asked questions in writing to SBI 2 weeks ago that please provide me names of the return of accounts in last 10 years of big defaulters, INR 100 crores and above. [Foreign Language] This information was provided to me last year in AGM. But this year, this information was rejected. [Foreign Language] Indian Overseas Bank under my RBI application gave me this information. SBI gave me this information last year in AGM. How come the definition of confidentiality changes every year? In fact, I further ask [Foreign Language] at least [Foreign Language] Horrible thing is I have seen your annual reports SBI in last 4 years alone, have written off to a tune of INR 2,13,648 crores under write-off. Out of that recovery is only INR 37,188 crores. That means only 17% is recovery. Now write-off is done at the cost of profit. And if you do not recover much and do not add to the other income, profit will never go up. We are here toward dividends and not to do any social service. Secondly [Foreign Language] why don't you publish it on your website and why don't you give to your shareholders? This is a big area where actually money is stipend off. And if [Foreign Language] INR 1,25,000 crores were return off. Out of that bank would recover only INR 8,969 crores, only 7%. Big people [Foreign Language]. This is a fraud Mr. Chairman, and this is eating away our dividend money, our profit is reduced. So my again request to you is, before I approach SEBI and other including Supreme Court, please provide list of all big defaulters as requested by me, as you had provided last year [Foreign Language] And secondly, that consolidated statement also, every year, big defaulters INR 100 crores and above [Foreign Language]. Otherwise I have to go through legal source [Foreign Language] and it is must on you. So please do it and answer this question during your speech afterwards, please do it. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir. The next question is from Mr. Hiranand Kotwani. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start the video.

Am I audible?

Yes, sir.

Hello? [Foreign Language] to all. Dineshji, it was good meeting, I can acknowledge our work. I salute, all the employees of State Bank of India for their work in this pandemic. Certainly, you discussed this praising culture in our AGM. Starting from people, 7% to 8% just praise you and your -- yes, bond and share department. That is not good. You invite criticism, just like Velankar and other people, which invites that. Sir, just coming to the point, our bank is doing well, done well, I hope they will do well. But what is the situation where we improved? The executive will come in the branch level. There's a problem at branch level because branches are good, there are tremendous work at branch level, how you think through the work culture, environment, facilities, your branch should be good, communities because when customers go, he think that I am in my good branch [Foreign Language] most critical topic is our State Bank of India, particularly all the public sector bank. How are you going to dealing with them? How we are improving? Where the problem comes? Government to government [Foreign Language] as your -- our bank is public sector under the Government of India undertaking. [Foreign Language] Thank you and good luck ahead, God wish, God give good wishes to all the people of the State Bank of India. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

The next question is from Mr. Praful Chavda. Sir, you have now been unmuted, please start your video and ask your question.

Hello? [Foreign Language]

Yes. Yes. Yes, we can hear you.

[Foreign Language]

Yes.

[Foreign Language] Please go ahead.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. Thank you very much

Thank you, sir. Due to time constraints, that was the final question. We request shareholders still in the question queue to please e-mail their questions to [email protected] for us to respond to the same. We will now request Chairman, sir, to answer the questions raised by the shareholders.

Yes, sure. Thank you very much, first of all, for the pains taken by the shareholders in asking these kind of questions. I would now take up one by one, the answers for the questions which have been raised. The first one, of course, I think many of the shareholders have showed their concerns relating to the employees who have got affected by COVID and what steps are being taken for such affected employees and also in the event of -- unfortunate event of the death, what is being done for their deceased families. Actually, we have taken a number of proactive mitigating measures, initiatives, first, the staff benefit, such as reimbursement of expenses incurred on COVID tests, treatment and also the treatment, special support to all the employees who have found COVID positive. And also, we have sanctioned special leave to employees on -- during the quarantine period to contain and reduce the spread of the virus among the staff members. In the initial phase, your bank also provided monetary compensation to employees who were in the forefront of the operations. These measures ensure that the employees remain motivated and equipped to handle the crisis very well. Unfortunately, some of our members who lost their lives while ensuring uninterrupted service to the customers. So the support of the family members of such deceased employees includes cash compensation and also the compassionate employment also are some of the steps which have been taken. Apart from that, the education for the dependent employees -- dependents of such employees have also been taken care of. The other step -- other question was relating to the NPAs in the power and -- power, telecom, and port and road sector and what steps are being taken. For reduction in NPA power, telecom and road sector, we have undertaken many steps, including restructuring, change in management, compromise settlement, initiating NCLT processes and also ARC sales wherever, in fact, we evaluate all options and whatever is found to be the best that is being implemented. Another question was relating to management's view on the loss-making and nonperforming branches. We have actually made the appropriate action plan for each of the loss-making branch. And we have got a definite time line to turn them around the near future. It also includes strategies like focusing on high-yielding advances, improving fee-based income, also having a sharper focus on the government business, customer value announcement products. Apart from that, the reduction in overhead is something which is very consciously attempted. We are strictly monitoring the implementation of these action plans and in extreme cases, we also -- it is turning out if at all, the branch cannot be turned into profit, we think in terms of providing CSP at the correspondent channel, which can actually sell their customers and we can reduce our loss-making branches. As of now, in the bank, we have got 416 loss-making branches. The next question was relating to the gender distribution and also gender wise, age wise distribution of the staff. As of now, we are -- as on 31st March, we have 2,45,652 employees in all. More than 56 years, we have got about 39,000 employees. Incidentally, 25 years and below, we have about 9,000; 26 to 30 years, we have got 34,000; 31 to 35 years, 49,000; 36 to 40, 38,000; 41 to 45 years, 21000; 46 to 50, 23,000 and 51 to 55, 31,000. So that's a breakup. One question was relating to write-off, which has been done in the current year. We have done a write-off of INR 34,000-odd crores in the current year. Rural branches, we have opened in the financial year '21. There are 52 in number and urban branches we have 108. Regarding the question relating to about INR 9,000 crores increase in the provision for the pensioners. One question was whether the bank has planned to distribute the entire amount. Pension is actually gone by the pension fund rules. The increase in pension fund compasses to take care of the future payment obligations, which is assessed by the actuary and based on the actuary's assessment, whatever additional provision was required to be made. So this actuary amount to the same. There was a question relating to the e-loan tenured G Sec for the fourth quarter ending 31st of March. Tenure G Sec stands at 6.18%. Another question was relating to the packages planned to increase other income from the treasury operations. We have already started investing the funds into the short-term state development loans where the relative yield is better than the G Sec. And we are also focusing on churning in our AFS book to get the advantage of the repricing. The specific question, which was there for Mr. Velankar, of course, we'll certainly have it looked into the kind of details, which have been asked, how can we make it available and what all we can make it available. Be rest assured, Mr. Velankar, your concern is our concerns also. And we will ensure that I mean there is no such intention on the part of anybody. Whatever is doable in terms of the boundary conditions laid out by the law will certainly ensure that we provide all that information. Mr. Kotwani also indicated that he asked questions relating to government NPAs, et cetera. And he also indicated that we need to improve the branch amenities. And also, there are certain problems at the branch level. That continues to be the part of the sharper focus, but considering the fact that the network being so large, all the people in the hierarchy have been sensitized appropriately to ensure that the branches should be fully equipped to take care of the customers' amenities. But nevertheless, if at all, there are any shortfall, we will certainly take care of that. About Mr. Praful Chavda's issue relating to his shares not getting transferred, we'll certainly have it looked into and see that how best we can help you out. It is our endeavor also to have as many share converted into Demat form as possible, and we'll be more than happy to help you out in that direction, and we will certainly see that what all can be done, it should be done. Let me also see if at all some of the other questions, which have remain unanswered. The other question was relating to bonus. We will have to see that how things will pan out in the subsequent years. And based on that, we'll be taking appropriate steps. But nevertheless, let me share with you, we are very much thankful to the shareholders because they have supported us during the last 3, 4 years when we could not declare the dividend, and that is 1 of the reasons when we could find that there's elbow room available, we ensure that we must give them dividend to the best possible situation. Mr. Rajeev Jha also indicated about the customer service and his special focus was relating to the wealth management, how can the wealth management customers, we offered the services which they deserve. We will certainly have it looked into. I really thank Mr. Jha for his suggestions. Mr. Siddharth Guha had a question relating to the outlook on NBFCs. And the rest of his questions have already been answered, but outlook on NBFCs, of course, because NBFCs are very deeply associated with the ground level functioning of the economy. And as you're all aware, that last 1 year from 2021, we have seen the COVID situation, and of course, it disrupts our cash flow. But I think all kind of pragmatic steps, and I would say that all support has been extended in the year 2021 by the government in terms of providing them Tier, Tier 0 kind of facility. And so I think though there seems to be having some challenges in collections, but nevertheless, I think the management of NBFCs are very much seized with the situation, and they are trying to find whatever best we can -- best way to resolve this kind of a situation. And the other question, 1 gentleman had asked this question relating to the liquidity. Our liquidity position is very, very comfortable. I would like to mention that in the last year also during the pandemic period, our deposits have grown almost by about 14% and whereas our advances growth was just about around 6%. So that is something which is available, that gets deployed into the short-term papers and also that was the instrument. So all that treasury is also -- all those instruments are available for deployment for the credit. And when it comes to the liquidity coverage ratio, we have a comfortable liquidity coverage ratio. Another question was raised relating to the capital raising plans. We have -- as of now, our capital adequacy stands at about 13.74%, which actually is a fairly comfortable capital position. And we also feel that it will take care of the expected growth capital requirement of the bank because we are generally expecting about 9% kind of a credit growth, and we are well equipped to take care of this kind of a credit growth. The issue relating, we have recently obtained an approval from our Board for raising AT1. And also that AT1 is essentially meant for replacing our existing AT1 book. Some of the direct -- some of the shareholders have indicated their desire to be invited to the analyst meet. Actually, it's an exclusive club, but nevertheless, we will explore, if at all possible, we'll try and see that what all can be done. Another shareholder had asked about the senior citizens, what is being done. For the senior citizens, we have got Wecare Deposit, which actually offers much better interest rate. That is one. And secondly, we have started offering service at the doorstep. That is the other initiative, which has been taken to take care of the senior citizens in these difficult times. CSR activity, of course, I have shared in my opening remarks also, but it will continue to be our focus going forward. And we are very much connected to the ground, and we are certain in the situation and accordingly provide the CSR facility. One of the shareholders has indicated that the mobile ATM services were not offered. We will try and see that generally, we have mobile ATM services at various locations. We'll look into why we could not offer the mobile ATM in the current year. One question was relating to start-up funding. Start-up funding normally is through the equity route and generally, the private equity is a vehicle. And we do have -- we do support the private equities from the treasury book of the bank, which actually encourages them to support the start-up on the ground. We keep on constantly engaging with the start-ups to provide the requisite support also. One question was relating to the recoveries made from some the chronic accounts. We are happy to share that the recovery efforts are intensified, and we are quite hopeful that we should be inefficient to make decent recoveries. One question was relating to the cost control also. Cost control is very much part of the sharper focus. I would like to mention that in the current year, we have seen some kind of a spike in the cost and that is essentially attributed to the fact that this year, we had the wage settlement wherein -- which actually takes place after 5 years, and that is 1 of the reasons why we have seen the spike. But nevertheless, when it comes to our overheads, they are much within control. And so that's how it is. And when it comes to the retiral benefits that also undergoes a change, if at all, there is a -- the yield is something which comes down. That is something which leads to much higher provisioning and that is not the reasons where the cost seems to be a little on the higher side. One question was raised relating to our presence on the social media, the social media presence, I'm happy to share with the shareholders, the position relating to the social media. As far as the Facebook is concerned, we have about 1.8 crore followers, and we are the most followed bank globally. When it comes to the Twitter, we have got about 42 lakh followers and we are the most followed bank globally. When it comes to -- we are actually followed widely when it comes to video views also, we have got about 448 there. We keep on uploading various YouTube features, and that is also viewed very extensively. Quora also, we have about 199 million content viewers who are there. And so that, I think in the Facebook, we have got a decent presence, and we will ensure that wherever required, we'll certainly try and see that we keep on improving it. Some of the measures which we have taken relating to the special support scheme, which we had introduced was essentially relating to the payment of cash compensation for the employers who unfortunately lost their life during COVID period. This was a cash compensation of INR 20 lakh, which we paid. And also we have actually revamped the compassionate apartment scheme, which I shared with you that it actually covers debt due to COVID-19 and revised scheme for payment of ex-gratia amount in your compassionate appointment has also been introduced. And so these are some of the initiatives which have been taken in the previous year when it comes to the relief, which we have extended to unfortunate employees who died because of COVID. Apart from that, we have got the vaccination for all our employees done and out of about 220,000-odd employees, almost about 150,000 employees and their family members and their ecosystem have also been covered in the vaccination drive at the bank. So of course, these are very challenging times. I think all measures can fall short. But nevertheless, we are making all our efforts to see that whatever can be done, we must do it for our employees, for all the people in the society also through our CSR initiative. So thank you very much for giving me a chance to answer all your questions. Scrutinizers report is there? Okay. Our scrutinizers have submitted the report on e-voting. And if majority votes are in favor of the resolution, it will be declared to the stock exchange that the balance sheet and the profit and loss account, the report of the Central Board and the auditor's report have been adopted by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting. The copy of the scrutinizers report will also be made available on the banks and SBI's official website for the shareholders' information. As indicated, we have tried to answer all the questions of the shareholders. But if at all, some of the questions have remained unanswered, the shareholders are requested to kindly send their questions on the e-mail ID, which was just shared via by Mr. Ravi. And now I thank all the shareholders for attending the Annual General Meeting through VC and actively participating with enthusiasm in the proceedings of the meeting.

Thank you, sir. The vote of thanks will now be proposed by Mr. Mukul Mitra. Sir, you have been unmuted. You can please go ahead now. Mr. Mukul Mitra, can you hear us?

Yes, I can hear you.

Sir, you can please go ahead.

Good evening. Respected Chairman, Directors and Shareholders, I am Dr. Mukul Mitra, I thank all the shareholders for coming and taking part in the proceedings of the 66th Annual General Meeting of the bank. I congratulate the Chairman on wonderful performance of the bank. I also congratulate the Share & Bonds department on convening a successful AGM. Once again, thanks to all.

Thank you. Thank you very much. As we have come to the close of the agenda I would like to declare the meeting as closed. Thank you. Thank you very much.