SBI to lend Rs 20,000 cr for 3G funding

State Bank of India (SBI) will be lending Rs 20,000 crore for telecom companies to pay for licences for the Third Generation (3G) mobile services.
“The rate of interest will be decided in one-to-one talks with the operators to whom we will be lending,” said Mr O.P. Bhatt, Chairman, told newspersons after inaugurating a SBI branch at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Saturday.
The 3G funding would impact the liquidity of the bank in a big way.
“As on March 31, 2010, we have Rs 40,000 crore liquidity. About 50 per cent of this would go for 3G funding,” Mr Bhatt said.
The telecom operators who won the licences for 3G bandwidth would have to pay about Rs 68,000 crore to the Government.
On the business focus, he said the first focus of the bank would be in retail – home loans and auto loans in particular – followed by the corporate sector. “We are expecting a 20 per cent credit growth this year,” he added.