The largest lender of the country, State Bank of India is keen on expanding its presence in South East Asia. For this, the bank is planning to acquire an Indonesian bank. The bank has allotted USD 100 million for the deal.

The potential for growth is quite high in the Indonesian market. The banking major has identified 2-3 banks for the purpose too, said a senior official of the bank.

"We are not in favour of giving cash more than USD 100 million," the official said.

The bank presently has a subsidiary in the country by the name, PT Bank SBI Indonesia. This subsidiary has branch network of six.

Increasing branch network is a time consuming affair, said the official. This is why an inorganic growth route is considered as an easier mode of expansion.

SBI has 125 foreign offices spread across 23 countries including Singapore, USA, Canada and Mauritius at the end of March 2010.