Civil society urges halt to SBI unit move from Kolkata

A civil society group called Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Manch has urged President Droupadi Murmu to stop the State Bank of India (SBI) from moving major operations from Kolkata to Mumbai. They are concerned about the planned relocation of the Global Market Unit (GMU) operations, including the Centralised Global Back Office and other financial divisions. The GMU, which used to be known as the Foreign Department, has been successfully operating from Kolkata for many years. The group claims relocating these operations will harm Kolkata's role in global finance. They also mentioned that a similar attempt to move these operations was successfully resisted by employees about 20 years ago. Ashok Mukherjee, a spokesperson for the forum, stated that the state government would lose revenue if the unit shifts to another city. The group is advocating for the preservation of Kolkata's key position in SBI's forex operations.