SBI Explores Credit Guarantee Scheme with Government for High-Risk, Emerging Sectors: MD Tewari

Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, is in discussions with the government to introduce a credit guarantee scheme for risky and new age sectors, Managing Director Ashwini Kumar Tewari said on Monday. The move aims to encourage financing in emerging industries such as electric vehicles, green hydrogen, batteries, high-end solar technology, and data centers.

Speaking at the CII Finance Summit, Tewari highlighted SBI’s plan to include green finance under the priority sector lending mandate, though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government have reservations due to potential crowding-out effects on other lending areas.

SBI is also set to inaugurate a Centre of Excellence (CoE) that will support not only the bank but the broader financial ecosystem in policy formulation, risk assessment, and credit pricing for eight strategic sectors. The CoE will collaborate with think tanks and multilateral institutions, with SBI having already signed 20 MoUs in this regard.

On renewable energy, Tewari noted that SBI has helped around 3 lakh households install solar rooftops under government schemes and plans to expand this to 5 lakh households. The bank has financed over ₹70,000 crore in the renewable energy sector, with the current loan book exceeding ₹40,000 crore. He emphasized that much of this lending is being refinanced by the bond market and private equity funds, reflecting a maturing sector with banks acting as the first financiers.

“We are urging the government to develop guarantee schemes for riskier, new-age elements of the industry,” Tewari said, without revealing specific details of the proposal.