India’s Largest Public Sector Bank – State Bank of India (SBI) has been designated as Lead Bank of 5 New Districts of Ladakh – Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar, Drass.
The Administration of Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh has notified formation of five new districts, viz., Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar and Drass in the UT of Ladakh vide Gazette Notification SG-LD-E-27042026-1712 dated April 27, 2026. Accordingly, it has been decided to designate the Lead Bank of the new districts as below:
| Sr. No | Newly created district | Lead Bank Responsibility assigned to | District Working Code allotted to new district |
| 1. | Sham | State Bank of India | 02Z (to be read as ‘Numeral Zero, Numeral Two and Alphabet Z’) |
| 2. | Nubra | State Bank of India | 03B (to be read as ‘Numeral Zero, Numeral Three and Alphabet B’) |
| 3. | Changthang | State Bank of India | 03A (to be read as ‘Numeral Zero, Numeral Three and Alphabet A’) |
| 4. | Zanskar | State Bank of India | 03C (to be read as ‘Numeral Zero, Numeral Three and Alphabet C’) |
| 5. | Drass | State Bank of India | 03D (to be read as ‘Numeral Zero, Numeral Three and Alphabet D’) |
The Lead Bank Scheme is an initiative of the RBI under which a particular bank is assigned the responsibility of taking the lead in the development of banking and credit facilities in a district. The bank is called the Lead Bank of that district.
The main objective is to coordinate the activities of banks and other financial institutions and ensure adequate flow of credit to sectors such as agriculture, MSMEs and other priority sectors. The Lead Bank works with government departments, banks and other stakeholders to identify the credit needs of the district and prepare plans for improving banking services.
