Imperial Bank of India Bank of India performed all the normal functions which a commercial bank was expected to perform. In the absence of any central banking institution in India until 1935, the Imperial Bank of India also performed a number of functions which are normally carried out by a central bank. The Reserve Bank of India, which is the Central bank of India, in the year 1955, acquired a controlling interest in the Imperial Bank of India, and the Imperial Bank of India was renamed on 30 April 1955 to the State Bank of India. This transformation from the Imperial Bank of India
Banking in India his journey as the new RBI Governor, taking charge from Raghuram Rajan. During the First World War (1914–1918) through the end of the Second World War (1939–1945), and two years thereafter until the independence of India were challenging for Indian banking. The years of the First World War were turbulent, and it took its toll with banks simply collapsing despite the Indian economy gaining indirect boost due to war-related economic activities. At least 94 banks in India failed between 1913 and 1918 as indicated in the following table: During 1938-46, bank branch offices trebled to 3,469 and deposits quadrupled to