Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) has unveiled SBI CHAKRA, a dedicated Centre of Excellence (CoE) aimed at transforming how India finances its emerging and sunrise sectors.
The initiative is expected to catalyse capital expenditure of over Rs. 100 lakh crore by 2030, supporting large-scale manufacturing, technology development, and employment generation.
CHAKRA will focus on the following eight high-growth sectors:
- Renewables
- Data Centres
- E-mobility and charging infrastructure
- Advanced Cell Chemistry/Battery
- Semiconductors
- Green Hydrogen and Ammonia
- Decarbonisation
- Smart Infrastructure
The name CHAKRA is an abbreviation for the above eight sectors for the CoE’s focus.
By strengthening risk assessment frameworks and directing capital responsibly, SBI aims to ensure that the country’s manufacturing ecosystem scales up while embedding innovation and sustainability at its core.
Unlike a conventional think tank, SBI Chakra is designed as a hands-on execution platform. It will actively shape sector-specific risk models, support policy advocacy, and help structure innovative financing solutions. Given the unique and evolving risks associated with emerging technologies, Chakra will play a key role in helping lenders better understand sectoral challenges and avoid premature or misaligned investments.
Highlighting the significance of the initiative, C S Setty, Chairman, State Bank of India, said, “India has to focus on emerging sectors such as semiconductors, green hydrogen, battery storage, etc., to drive the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. Over the years, SBI has been helping players across industries with capability development and financing based on our expertise. The Centre of Excellence is a coordinated body established to help finance projects specifically in these emerging sectors.”
A cornerstone of the initiative is collaborative financing. SBI has already signed memoranda of understanding with 21 domestic and global financial institutions, including MUFG and SMBC. Through joint project finance teams, these institutions will work closely with the Chakra unit to build expertise and co-finance complex projects, enabling capital deployment at scale rather than offering advisory support alone.
Also Read
Payoneer Gets RBI Nod for Cross-Border Payment Aggregator Role in India
Discussion about this post