State Bank of India (SBI)

State Bank of India operates as the keystone species of Indian banking, its 22,000+ branch network forming a rhizome system that penetrates every economic stratum. Serving over 450 million customers—more than the population of North America—SBI's scale creates trophic cascades throughout the financial ecosystem. When SBI adjusts lending rates, effects ripple across markets like a blue whale's feeding pattern restructuring krill populations. This dominance stems from path dependence: founded in 1806 as Bank of Calcutta, SBI absorbed eight associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, accumulating organizational mass over two centuries. The bank commands roughly 23% of India's banking assets, functioning as both primary producer (mobilizing rural deposits) and apex consumer (financing infrastructure megaprojects). Yet size creates metabolic constraints—decision-making moves with the inertia of a sequoia, while nimbler private banks exploit temporal niches. SBI's public sector mandate requires serving unprofitable segments (agricultural lending, financial inclusion), a burden similar to mycorrhizal networks supporting seedlings that provide no immediate return. Despite these handicaps, SBI's embeddedness in India's economic substrate makes it effectively extinction-proof, a financial Pando clone surviving through state backing and systemic indispensability.