The banker to every Indian, State Bank of India (SBI) has recorded a disbursement of Rs 1,350 crore under its recently announced special home loan scheme.

SBI's Chairman O P Bhatt said, "In the forty days since we commenced the scheme on February 2, we have disbursed loans worth Rs 1350 crore."

The bank is offering an interest rate of 8% under the scheme. This rate is fixed for a period of one year following which it will be altered.

Meanwhile the bank is also offering its auto loans at concessional interest rate of 10%. The reduced auto loan rate has helped the bank to gain the top position in the sector. "I don't have the exact numbers. But Aditya Puri (HDFC Bank MD) called me to say that we have overtaken them, that means we are the leaders in auto loans in the last two months," said Bhatt.

Both the home loan and auto loan scheme of the bank have been extended by another five months until September 30th.

Bhatt also indicate that the interest rates of SBI are likely to come down further in the coming few months. "I don't know about the long term. But in the immediate future, they will fall. We could see rates come down by 25 bps in the next 6 months," he said.

Commenting on the capital raising plans of the bank, Bhatt said that they intend to raise around Rs 60,000-70,000 crore over the next five years. SBI plans to raise a portion of this amount from the capital markets if the government permits. The bank is seeking government's approval for raising fresh capital. "Once we get the nod, we can raise in 2-3 months. Last time, we raised Rs 20,000 crore. So we can't raise any less this time," said Bhatt.

"To be able to serve large Indian corporates that are going out across the world to do business or investments, we need far more capital than what we have now. If we do not raise our capital base, the prudential norms of the regulator will not allow us to serve some of India's best corporates," he said.

Last year also the bank raised Rs 20,000 crore.