Banking on Mumbai: Bengal Faces ₹25 Cr GST Blow as SBI Shifts Key Unit

Image Source: Times of India

Key Highlights:
1. State Bank of India is shifting its Global Market Unit (GMU) from Kolkata to Mumbai, which could result in a loss of almost ₹25 crore of GST revenue to West Bengal in the current fiscal.
2. The step has also resulted in protests from civil society group Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Manch, which has described the move as arbitrary and non-transparent.

Economic Impacts:
- The GMU, which brings in considerable state GST revenue, is being shifted even as there was a commitment in 2008 to retain it at Kolkata.
- Over 70 contractual employees will be losing their livelihoods due to the transfer.
- Critics say this is part of a larger pattern of downplaying Kolkata's institutional presence in India's financial landscape.

SBI Answer:
- SBI explained that the transition is a part of normal operating restructuring based on evolving business needs.
- But the bank's reply was deemed generic and not good enough by the protesters, and hence they approached the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System.

Greater Concerns:

- The step has been interpreted as symbolic erosion of Kolkata's heritage as a financial centre. - Activists argue that such an action, if not curbed, would further centralize financial power in Mumbai at the expense of regional balance.

Sources: Business Standard, Rediff Money, ThePrint