Its ancestry can be traced from British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in 1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent. The Government of India nationalised the Imperial Bank of India in 1955, with the Reserve Bank of India taking a 60 percent stake, and renamed it the State Bank of India. In 2008, the Government took over the stake held by the Reserve Bank of India.

Its head office is an impressive building in Mumbai, with over 16,000 branches, making it has the largest branch network in India. With an asset base of $250 billion and $195 billion in deposits, it is a regional banking behemoth. It has a market share among Indian commercial banks of about 20 percent in deposits and advances, and accounts for almost one-fifth of the nation’s loans. It is ranked as the 29th most reputable company in the world by Forbes and has 141 overseas offices spread over 32 countries.