SBI to rope in foreign partner in 07-08 for general insurance busi

Kolkata, Aug 2(UNI) The public sector banking major State Bank of India will rope in a foreign partner this fiscal to enter general insurance business.

Speaking to mediapersons here today SBI CMD O P Bhatt said the bank would select the foreign partner in 2007-08 and commence business after that. ''We have already shortlisted three to four companies for this venture. However, we will take the final decision soon,'' Mr Bhatt said.

Meanwhile, speaking on the bank's plans on Financial Inclusion, Mr Bhatt said the bank would provide service to one lakh unbanked people in the country in the next 24 months. Financial Inclusion is a process through which the unbanked poor people get no-frill banking services.

The pilot project for this project has already been started in Mizoram. After the completion of the pilot project, five states, including Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, would be brought under it.

UNI