M Bhagavantha Rao, Managing Director of State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) ruled out the possibility of merger of the bank with State Bank of India (SBI) at the moment considering the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

It may be recalled that a separate state of Telangana has been carved out from Andhra Pradesh recently and the ensuing political situation is not conducive for merger of SBH.

Speaking to reporters, Rao said SBH would be the largest among the five associate banks of SBI to be merged with the parent bank.

In the coming decade, all the five subsidiaries of SBI would be merged with the parent bank, Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman of SBI said earlier.

The five subsidiaries of SBI are State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and State Bank of Patiala.

Talking about branch expansion, Rao said SBH intends to open more branches in the southern states, which bordered Andhra Pradesh.

SBH would open 14 branches in Tamil Nadu and two in Kerala in the next six months.