New Delhi, Sep 6: State Bank of India (SBI) plans to recruit around 11,000–12,000 personnel and add 200–250 branches to its network during the current financial year, Chairman C S Setty said.
“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,” Setty told PTI in an interaction.
The final number could vary depending on retirements and emerging requirements, he said, adding that the bank expects to close the financial year with around 12,000 recruitments.
SBI had undertaken a significantly larger recruitment drive in 2025–26, hiring 25,633 personnel, including 4,640 officers, 19,340 associates and 1,653 contractual staff, according to the bank’s FY26 annual report.
Setty said the lower hiring target this year was partly due to the bank having recruited a large number of specialist IT officers last year.
“Last year, we did fairly large recruitment because we took 1,500 specialist IT officers. This year, we do not need such a large number on the IT side,” he said.
With more than 2.45 lakh employees as of March 2026, SBI remains one of India’s largest employers.
On branch expansion, Setty said the bank still sees scope to strengthen its physical presence despite its extensive network.
“There is still some white space in many areas; whether new colonies are coming up or even in commercially active districts, the bank’s presence can be improved,” he said.
SBI is also undertaking rationalisation of its branch network, he said. As a result, the bank expects its net branch count to increase by around 200 to 250 annually.
“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,” Setty said.
On SBI’s stake in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Setty said SBI and its subsidiary SBI Capital Markets Ltd plan to collectively dilute up to 1 per cent of their holdings through the proposed NSE initial public offering.
SBI plans to sell 0.65 per cent and SBI Capital Markets 0.35 per cent, he said, adding that the final stake sale could be lower if other shareholders also participate in the divestment.
SBI currently holds a 3.23 per cent stake in NSE, while SBI Capital Markets holds 4.33 per cent.
NSE received regulatory approval last week for its proposed Rs 30,000-crore IPO, which could become the largest IPO in India if completed at the proposed size.
Setty said there was no immediate plan to monetise stakes in other SBI subsidiaries.
In July, SBI and its foreign partner Amundi diluted around 10 per cent of their stake in SBI Mutual Fund, including the pre-IPO dilution. The Rs 11,675-crore issue was subscribed 41.66 times.
