State Bank of India SHIMLA MAIN BRANCH - Shimla

Presidency Banks of Bengal

The presidency Banks of Bengal, Bombay and Madras with their 70 branches were merged in 1921 to form the Imperial Bank of India. The triad had been transformed into a monolith and a giant among Indian commercial banks had emerged. The new bank took on the triple role of a commercial bank, a banker's bank and a banker to the government.

But this creation was preceded by years of deliberations on the need for a 'State Bank of India'. What eventually emerged was a 'half-way house' combining the functions of a commercial bank and a quasi-central bank.

The establishment of the Reserve Bank of India as the central bank of the country in 1935 ended the quasi-central banking role of the Imperial Bank. The latter ceased to be bankers to the Government of India and instead became agent of the Reserve Bank for the transaction of government business at centres at which the central bank was not established. But it continued to maintain currency chests and small coin depots and operate the remittance facilities scheme for other banks and the public on terms stipulated by the Reserve Bank. It also acted as a bankers' bank by holding their surplus cash and granting them advances against authorised securities. The management of the bank clearing houses also continued with it at many places where the Reserve Bank did not have offices. The bank was also the biggest tenderer at the Treasury bill auctions conducted by the Reserve Bank on behalf of the Government.

The establishment of the Reserve Bank simultaneously saw important amendments being made to the constitution of the Imperial Bank converting it into a purely commercial bank. The earlier restrictions on its business were removed and the bank was permitted to undertake foreign exchange business and executor and trustee business for the first time.