New Delhi.  State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara has said that the demand for credit from the corporate sector is increasing and loans worth Rs 5 lakh crore are in the pipeline. Khara said that while companies had cash surplus in their books during the last few years, they have now started looking for loans for working capital needs and capacity expansion.

"Now we have come to a stage where they (corporates) have started approaching banks to increase their capacity or to meet their working capital requirement. Of course, I can say this with confidence. When we look at the percentage of unpaid term loans, it has come down from 25 to 18 per cent," he said.

Opportunities will exist in the private sector 

Dinesh Kumar Khara said that it seems that there will be opportunities in the private sector and SBI will be in a position to create value for this sector. SBI Chairman said, "When we look at the pipeline of new proposals, it is quite good. It is about Rs 5 lakh crore or more."

SBI can increase the rate by 16 percent

Regarding retail agriculture and MSME (RAM) loans, Khara said that despite the high interest rate, SBI can grow at the rate of 16 percent this year also. In the last financial year, SBI's RAM (retail agriculture and MSME) has grown by 16 percent to Rs 21 lakh crore.