State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday launched CHAKRA, a dedicated Centre of Excellence aimed at financing India’s fast emerging sunrise sectors, including renewable energy, advanced cell chemistry and battery storage, electric mobility, green hydrogen, semiconductors, decarbonisation, smart infrastructure, and data centre infrastructure.
According to SBI, these sectors together hold an estimated economic output potential of nearly ₹100 trillion over the next five years, underlining their importance to India’s long-term growth and industrial transformation.
Speaking at the launch, C S Setty, Chairman of SBI, said the bank has identified a lendable opportunity of around ₹20–22 trillion across these sunrise sectors over the same period. However, he cautioned that such projects cannot rely solely on traditional debt financing.
“These structures cannot be funded only by debt capital. We are working on patient capital solutions, including mezzanine financing and other capital structures beyond conventional loans,” Setty said, adding that SBI will also play an active role in shaping financing frameworks for emerging technologies and new-age risks.
As part of the initiative, SBI has signed memoranda of understanding with 21 financial institutions, enabling co-financing and capacity building. Under the arrangement, project finance teams from partner institutions will collaborate directly with SBI’s CHAKRA team.
Global participation includes Japanese lenders such as SMBC and MUFG, alongside domestic state-owned institutions like PFC, REC, and NaBFID. SBI is also in discussions with European and American banks for potential partnerships.
Setty noted that while SBI’s strong retail deposit base has supported infrastructure financing so far, the increasing financialisation of household savings means other financial institutions will need to play a larger role in funding long-term infrastructure and technology projects. “Our role is to provide confidence and structure to attract that capital,” he said.
According to SBI, CHAKRA will drive outcomes through white papers, sector reports, industry roundtables, knowledge series, and policy dialogues, supporting informed decision making for corporates, investors, and policymakers.
The Centre will also engage with development finance institutions, multilateral agencies, NBFCs, startups, academia, and policy think tanks, strengthening capital flow into innovation-led sectors.
CHAKRA builds on SBI’s earlier Centre of Excellence for MSMEs at the State Bank Academy and reflects the lender’s broader push to support India’s sustainable, technology driven growth agenda.
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