State Bank of India has revealed its plans to foray into general insurance business by the end of this fiscal, in alliance with leading insurance company - Insurance Australia Group (IAG) of Australia.

The bank has already received necessary approvals from the Reserve Banks' for the proposed venture and has moved into second stage for acquiring the approvals from insurance regulator IRDA.

"We hope to start general insurance operations before the end of the current fiscal. We already have got stage one approval from IRDA," said O P Bhatt, chairman, SBI.

"SBI holds a 74 per cent stake in the joint venture while IAG holds the remaining 26 per cent. The JV has already started recruitment of top-level management," Bhatt added.

SBI presently offers life insurance products through its subsidiary SBI Life Insurance, which is a joint venture with BNP Paribas Assurance.

Insurance Australia Group, an international general insurance group has its operations in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, China and UK. The group offers various general insurance products including auto, insurance, property, casualty and commercial business.