Hyderabad, February 09: The State Bank of India (SBI) opened the State Bank Heritage Gallery at Kakinada today to commemorate the opening of the Bank of Madras (the then SBI) 146 years ago. SBI deputy managing director Shiva Kumar inaugurated the gallery.
The Bank of Madras building was restored to its old glory, complete with furniture, bank records like ledgers and other valuable remnants gathered from various SBI branches in the State.
Shiva Kumar told reporters that Kakinada was selected as the centre for the SBI’s Andhra Pradesh Museum as it is the first branch of the SBI in the State.
He claimed that the SBI had achieved a credit-deposit ratio of 130 per cent in the State which was well above that of other major banks. “The SBI has the largest network in the State with 1,153 branches and its total assets are over Rs 56,000 crore. This is now more than the total of the two other large banks in the State,” he said.
Shiva Kumar also inaugurated a specialised agriculture commercial bank at Kakinada to cater to the specialised needs of high-end agri entrepreneurs. This is the second such branch after Hyderabad.
–Agencies