State Bank of India targets 12,000 hires and 250 more branches – report

State Bank of India (SBI) expects to recruit about 11,000 to 12,000 people and add as many as 250 branches in the current financial year, chairman CS Setty told PTI.

The recruitment drive will cover clerical as well as officer roles.

Setty said the eventual figure may shift based on retirements and the bank's developing needs.

"In terms of recruitment, I think we would be looking at around 11,000 to 12,000 appointments across both clerical and officer cadres this year. This number may vary depending on retirements and emerging requirements, but I expect we should close the year with around 12,000 recruitments," the chairman said.

SBI's annual report shows the bank hired 25,633 people in 2025-26. The intake comprised 4,640 officers, 19,340 associates and 1,653 contractual staff.

Setty said the previous year's intake was higher because SBI brought in 1,500 specialist IT officers.

"Last year, we have done fairly large recruitment because we took 1,500 specialist IT officers. This year, we do not need such a large number on the IT (information technology) side," he said.

As of March 2026, SBI had more than 245,000 employees.

The bank is also planning further branch additions even with its existing nationwide network.

Setty said there remained "white space" in a number of locations, including new housing areas and commercially active districts, where SBI could strengthen its footprint.

At the same time, SBI is reviewing branch rationalisation. "We also are looking at rationalisation of some of the branches, which means that our number broadly will be growing by maybe 200 to 250 per year on the net side," he said.

Setty said SBI and subsidiary SBI Capital Markets intend to dilute up to 1% of their combined holding in the National Stock Exchange through its proposed Rs 300bn IPO.

Under the plan, SBI would sell 0.65%, while SBI Capital Markets would sell 0.35%.

"We are participating in that divestment. We propose to divest 0.65 per cent and 0.35 per cent by SBI Capital Markets because both of us hold the stake. So together, about 1 per cent as an SBI group... it could be less depending on any other shareholders joining," he said.

"State Bank of India targets 12,000 hires and 250 more branches – report " was originally created and published by Retail Banker International , a GlobalData owned brand.