The government has initiated the process of finding a new chief of State Bank of India (SBI) as Arundhati Bhattacharya's extended term may end on October 6. The Department of Financial Services has reportedly communicated to Banks Board Bureau the emerging vacancies at the top level of PSU banks which will have to be filled during course of the year. Besides chairman, SBI has four managing directors looking after different departments. The SBI chairperson's post has become more critical as the bank has recently merged five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) pushing SBI into the league of top 50 banks globally in terms of assets. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT), besides BMB, merged with SBI with effect from April 1. The process of integration would at least take a year.