Telangana to oppose SBH merger

The Telangana government will oppose the proposed merger of State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) with its parent State Bank of India – a move which is likely to infuse new lease of life into the agitation being carried out by the SBH employees against the amalgamation.

“SBH should retain its identity. It is a Telangana bank. It has to remain that way,” Telangana Finance Minister Eatala Rajender said on Wednesday.

The bank was in existence even before 1956 and it belonged to the erstwhile Hyderabad State in the Nizam’s era, the Minister added.

Asked if there is a proposal to pass a resolution in the Legislative Assembly opposing the move, similar to Kerala adopting a motion against State Bank of Travancore's merger with SBI, he said he hasn't yet talked to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on the issue. “We have to take some decision,” Rajender added.

Welcoming the announcement, S B Rajasekhar, President, State Bank of Hyderabad Staff Association, suggested that the Telangana government should act fast and should immediately write to the Central government, opposing the move. “It’s good news for us that the Telangana government is against the merger. 

This decision will definitely have a bearing on the SBI’s merger plans. The government should pass a resolution against the merger in the Assembly and Chief Minister should ask TRS



MPs to raise the issue in Parliament,” he told 

He further said that leaders from his association called on Eatala Rajender, IT Minister K T Rama Rao and several others ministers a month ago and urged them to oppose the merger. “We also sought appointment of the Chief Minister to seek his support for our agitation against the SBI’s decision which will push the historic bank into oblivion,” he said.

According to him, SBH, which began on a modest scale, has grown over the years and is now as big as some independent banks, with its total business reaching Rs 2.5 lakh crore last financial year. At present, it operates 2,000 branches and has 19,000 employees.

“We are opposing the merger because SBH has a rich history and capacity to survive as an independent bank,” Rajasekhar observed. Set up as Hyderabad State Bank in 1941 by the erstwhile Nizam regime, the bank conducted commercial banking activities in Hyderabad State comprising present day Telangana, Hyderabad-Karnataka of Karnataka and Marathwada (now in Maharashtra). 

Meanwhile, L V Subramaniam, general secretary, State Bank of India Officers’ Association, maintained that SBI would go ahead with the merger in spite of the opposition from Telangana. “With the central government according approval for the merger, there is no way that can be stopped.