State Bank of India (SBI) says it will use artificial intelligence to support underwriting of nearly ₹1 lakh crore in MSME loans in FY26, aiming to underwrite loan amounts during the year at scale. SBI Managing Director Rama Mohan Rao Amara says the bank is preparing to underwrite up to ₹5 crore per customer within a 12-month period, covering both new-to-bank and existing customers.
SBI also describes AI deployment beyond underwriting, including the use of large language models to automate parts of its cheque processing. The bank says this specifically covers cheques up to ₹10,000, as part of efforts to streamline workflows in lending operations. The outlets align on the overall underwriting target for FY26 and SBI’s stated use of AI capabilities to speed up processing.
While the emphasis differs—one outlet highlights cheque automation alongside lending, and the other foregrounds the underwriting figures and per-transaction/customer underwriting capacity—both report the same broad plan for AI-assisted MSME lending during FY26.
