The State Bank of India (SBI) has terminated the lease of its Global Markets Unit (GMU) premises in Kolkata, triggering objections from a civil society forum that has called on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to step in and prevent any closure of the unit without regulatory clearance.

According to an SBI notice dated January 14, 2026, issued to a vendor, the bank is ending the lease for the 11th to 16th floors of the Jeevan Sudha Building on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in central Kolkata, which houses its foreign exchange and global markets operations.

The notice provides a one-month period to vacate the premises, indicating the bank’s intention to move out as part of its plan to consolidate treasury and forex operations in Mumbai. SBI had been operating its GMU and certain international operations from the Jeevan Sudha Building.

The bank also owns Samriddhi Bhavan at 1, Strand Road, a large facility located on the banks of the Hooghly river. The building serves as a major hub for several SBI departments, including the State Bank Archives & Museum, and offers a wide range of services from retail banking to specialised functions, apart from housing a substantial regional office.

The Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Manch (BBDBM), a civil society platform, said SBI has already informed the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the owner of the Jeevan Sudha Building, of its intention to vacate the premises, suggesting that the closure of GMU Kolkata has been operationalised at the administrative level.

In a representation submitted in the second week of January and addressed to RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, BBDBM urged the central bank not to permit the surrender of the banking licence of GMU Kolkata. The forum said any closure without explicit regulatory approval would “pre-empt” the RBI’s statutory authority and undermine the regulatory process.

The GMU and the Centralised Global Back Office (CGBO) were set up in Kolkata in 2015 during the tenure of former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya. Since then, the units have functioned as key back-office operations supporting overseas centres such as London, Hong Kong and New York.

BBDBM joint convener Soumya Datta said the unit has made a significant contribution to West Bengal’s economic ecosystem by enabling international and offshore banking activities from eastern India and creating both direct and indirect employment.

He said the proposed closure could lead to the loss of specialised banking functions and weaken Kolkata’s position as a financial gateway for eastern and north-eastern India.