The largest lender of the country, State Bank of India is planning to initiate a different company to carry forward its private banking venture so as to grab a bigger slice of the business from the high net worth individuals.

The private banking venture would target towards providing banking and wealth management services to the affluent section of the country having investible amount of Rs 1 crore and above. The criteria is however yet to be finalized, said V Murali, general manager at SBI's new businesses department.

Being the largest lender of the country, with a branch network of more than 16000, SBI is expected to gain natural advantage in the market.

By establishing a separate company for this business, it will be easier for SBI to match the salaries and perks of the employees with that of the private sector and in a way grab the best from the talent pool. The field is seen to be one of great potential by other players too like Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered.

Lenders like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank have also set up teams to garner their aims in this sector.

SBI has also set up a special branch for the affluent class in Hyderabad some time back.