The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was one of the oldest and the largest

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, and was subsequently transformed into the State Bank of India in 1955. Initially, as per its royal charter, it acted as the central bank for

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

prior to the formation of the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...

(RBI) in 1935.

Origin

The Imperial Bank of India is started through the kayasth trading and banking corporation which work to the monthly payment paid of teacher's of colleges and school and came into existence on 27 January 1921 through the reorganisation and amalgamation of the three Presidency Banks of colonial India into a single banking entity. The decision of his majesty's government was certainly influenced by the 1912 book "Indian Currency and Finance" authored by

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

. The Presidency Banks were the Bank of Bengal, established on 2 June 1806, the

Bank of Bombay The Bank of Bombay was the second of the three presidency banks (others being the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Madras) of the Raj period. It was established, pursuant to a charter of the British East India Company, on 15 April 1840. The b ...

(incorporated on 15 April 1840), and the

Bank of Madras The Bank of Madras was one of the three Presidency Banks of British India, along with the Bank of Bengal and the Bank of Bombay. It was established on 1 July 1843 through the amalgamation of a number of existing regional banks and headquartere ...

(incorporated on 1 July 1843). The Imperial Bank was 80% privately owned while the rest were owned by the state.

Activities

The Imperial Bank of India performed all the normal functions which a

was expected to perform. In the absence of any central banking institution in India until 1935, the Imperial Bank of India also performed a number of functions which are normally carried out by a central bank.

Milestones

* In 1924, at Apollo Street, currently called Mumbai Samachar Marg,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, a magnificent stone structure with fretted windows, was constructed to house a branch of the Imperial Bank of India. * In 1933, Sir

Badridas Goenka Rai Bahadur Sir Badridas Goenka CIE (29 July 1883 – 26 February 1973) was an Indian industrialist and business tycoon who served as the Chairman of the Imperial Bank of India from 1933 to 1955 and the first Chairman of the State Bank of Indi ...

, an important public figure and business tycoon of his time, and a prominent member of Marwari community of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, became the first Indian to be appointed as the Chairman of the Imperial Bank of India.

Epilogue

The

, which is the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

of India, acquired a controlling interest in the Imperial Bank of India in 1955, which was renamed on 30 April 1955 to the State Bank of India. This transformation from the Imperial Bank of India to the State Bank of India was given legal recognition through an Act of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

, which came into force from 1 July 1955. On that day, the bank had 480 branches and sub-offices, as well as three local head offices; slightly more than a quarter of the resources of the Indian banking industry was under its control and command. The branch network of the State Bank of India has since grown to 24,050 branches as of 31 March 2018. In 2007, the Reserve Bank of India transferred its stake in the State Bank of India to the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

References

{{SBI Banks established in 1921 Banks disestablished in 1955 Defunct banks of India 1955 disestablishments in India Indian companies established in 1921 Banks based in Mumbai

Origin

Activities

Milestones

Epilogue

Further reading

See also

References