The largest lender of the country, State Bank of India expects to get approval for merger with its associate bank, State Bank of Indore by this month itself, said SBI Chairman, O P Bhatt.

With the merger taking place, State Bank of Indore will have to close its 500 branches and deposits and advances amounting to about Rs 50,000 crore.

Supporting such corporate restructuring moves, Mr Bhatt said that consolidation is a good thing for the banking industry. "I would like to see more consolidation, but I don't see that happening," he said.

Speaking on the bank's plans to bring about its rights issue, Bhatt said that the bank would need to raise funds and "it is better to do it earlier than later".

Talking about deregulation of savings bank rates and its impact he said, interest rates would rise following deregulation.

On credit offtake, Mr Bhatt said that there was growth in the market "but not great".