The Evolution Of The State Bank Of India

&Nbsp; Playing A Part In The Story Is A Cast Of Bankers Who Left Their Imprint On The Bank&Rsquo;S Policies, Practices And Character, Among Them A Series Of Remarkable Chairmen, Not To Speak Of The Hundreds Of Dedicated Officers And Other Employees Who Helped Establish The Bank&Rsquo;S Pre-Eminence And Provide Leadership To The Banking System. &Nbsp; The State Bank Of India Act Received The President&Rsquo;S Assent On 8 May 1955, And On 1 July, Moving With Remarkable Swiftness, The New Bank Came Into Being. The Purpose Was To Create An Institution That Would Form An Essential Part Of The Country&Rsquo;S Plans For Modernization, Envisaged In The Era Of Economic Planning. The Bank Would Have Its Roots Firmly Planted In The Countryside Through A Network Of Branches That Spanned The Country&Rsquo;S Farthest Corners, And Play A Major Role In National Development. In Volume 4 Of The Evolution Of The State Bank Of India We Are Taken Into The Heart Of The Entire Exercise, Ranging From The Organizational Issues Posed By A Rapidly Expanding Network Of Branches Running Into The Thousands To Those Of Motivating A Huge Workforce, Besides The Problems Of Venturing Into Areas Of Banking&Mdash;Such As Development Banking Geared To The Needs Of The Artisan And The Farmer&Mdash;That Had Not Been Tried Before.

In this meticulously researched first volume, economic historian Dr. A.K. Bagchi draws on previously inaccessible State Bank archives to detail the unique evolution of India's premier banking institution from its beginnings to the end of the 19th century.

Drawing upon the archival material of the State Bank of India, which include some of the most extensive primary sources available on joint stock banking in India, this book, the final volume in the trilogy on the evolution of the State Bank of India, is a narrative history of the Imperial Bank of India from 1921 to 1955. The book documents with precision and rare candour the initial setbacks and subsequent rise of the Imperial Bank during a critical political and economic phase that spanned the Great Depression, World War II and post-Independence India, as also the corresponding development of industries in India with which the Imperial Bank was closely associated. It also briefly profiles the Reserve Bank of India, which was established in 1935 in order to take over the quasi-central functions of the Imperial Bank.