At a time when several other lenders have seen stress in their retail loan portfolios, SBI has dismissed such concerns and emphasised its plans to focus on the sector.

India’s largest lender, State Bank of India, plans to double its home loan portfolio to 10 trillion rupees ($137 billion) in the next five year after crossing the 5 trillion mark in January, the bank’s top executive said.

“Home loan is the biggest business unit of the bank now and will continue to be an important growth driver,” SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said in a media conference.

The lender’s home loan book has grown by five times in the last decade from 86,000 crore rupees in 2011.

At a time when several other lenders have seen stress in their retail loan portfolios, SBI has dismissed such concerns and emphasised its plans to focus on the sector. The current customer base, with a focus on salaried employees, has managed to keep bad loans in the segment in check, said Khara.

Gross non-performing assets in the home loan division are 0.67% of the total loan book. With a greater focus on home loans, the bank is looking to increase its share of retail in the overall loan book to 45% in one year, from 39% currently.

Source: Reuters

(The story has been published from a wire feed without modifications to the text. Only the heading has been changed)

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