India's SBI gives nod for $558 mln capital infusion by govt

MUMBAI Jan 19 (Reuters) - State Bank of India, the country's top lender, said on Saturday that its board had approved a capital injection of 30.04 billion rupees ($558 million) by the Indian government through preferential allotment of shares in the current fiscal year.

The funds will be used to support local and international banking operations, and the bank is seeking separate approvals from the government and India's central bank to raise its issued capital, SBI said in a statement to the stock exchanges.

India's central bank said in September that the government needed to inject 900 billion rupees into state-run banks to meet the upcoming Basel III requirements. ($1 = 53.82 rupees) (Reporting by Prashant Mehra)