State Bank of India (BOM:500112)

State Bank of India CMP 1216

· SBI is India's largest bank with around 16% market share in deposits and loans

· Together with its seven associate banks (ownership ranging from 75% to 100%), the SBI group has more than 20% market share in deposits and loans, has stupendous network of branches of more than 14000, 8500 ATMs and more than 90 million customers.

· The Government of India owns majority stake (around 60%) of the bank. SBI is a banker to most state governments, and has a dominant share of government fee business.

· SBI has a presence in other financial services through subsidiaries and joint ventures. It has a joint venture with Cardiff for life insurance and with GE Capital for credit cards. It also has a presence in asset management, investment banking and primary dealership.

· State Bank is the largest provider of infrastructure debt and the largest arranger of external commercial borrowings in the country. It is the only Indian bank to feature in the Fortune 500 list.

· The bank intends to expand Rural Banking base and aims to cover 100,000 villages in the next 2 years or so.

State Bank of India is the largest bank in India and is a public sector bank. The stock has fallen nearly 60% from its peak around 2400 but has started bottoming out in July08 itself. It has taken crucial support at 1000 and now moving up with good volumes. It can reach 1600 levels soon. Investors can add the stock at current price and in dips also for decent returns.