HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank count as the defining episodes of reforms in the gargantuan banking and financial services industry. But equal credit must also go to the governmentowned State Bank of India (SBI) -the perfect co-author of the banking chapter in the past 20 years. It remains India's largest lender, accounting for over 17 per cent of all bank advances. SBI's numbers have always been big, but what stands out is the determined way in which it is giving not just the private banks but also foreign banks a run for their money. For three years running. Private banking is the next big thing that SBI is going to tap.
