In the proposed fund-raising exercise, the government's share would be about a significant Rs 12,000 crore and how much it is going to contribute would depend on its fiscal position.

"The government is committed. It just wants the bank's public sector character to remain intact. We are confident to raise the fund by December," said Mr Chaudhuri during his first visit to Assam as SBI chairman.

He said the bank is planning to build a subsidiary in Australia and is eyeing business in countries like South Africa and Ghana. "The Australian market is promising as it has a good number of English-speaking people. Ghana and South Africa in the African continent are promising too."

SBI has received licences to operate in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Dhaka and Rajshahi in Bangladesh. "While the Amsterdam branch will start functioning by the end of this year, two branches in Bangladesh will come up by September," he said. Mr Chaudhury added that retail banking is growing in Bangla desh. The home loan position in Bangladesh is what it used to be 15 years ago in India. "We will put expertise from the bank to look after these new ventures," he said.

SBI plans to open 40 more branches in the northeastern part of India, out of which at least 30 will be in rural and semi-urban areas. At present, it has 555 branches across this region. The bank plans to engage another 200 business correspondents (BCs) and business facilitators (BFs) to serve the region while it has 889 BCs and BFs now.

The bank has earmarked Rs 1,300 crore for small and medium enterprises in the Northeast this fiscal. "The business climate in northeastern states is improving," he said. For instances, Assam is witnessing huge activity in real estate, hospitality and its security scenario has improved remarkably. Except in some pockets, things have changed and investments are pouring in.