State Bank of India (SBI) plans to recruit around 12,000 employees and add up to 250 branches to its network during the current financial year, Chairman C S Setty said, as the country’s largest lender looks to expand its workforce and physical presence.
“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. He said the final number would depend on retirements and emerging requirements but SBI expected to close the year with around 12,000 recruitments.
The hiring will be considerably lower than last year, when the bank recruited 25,633 people, including 4,640 officers, 19,340 associates and 1,653 contractual employees. Setty said SBI had undertaken significant recruitment last year, including 1,500 specialist IT officers, and did not require hiring on a similar scale for technology roles this year. SBI had a workforce of more than 2.45 lakh employees as of March 2026.
Branch network to grow
Setty said SBI also plans a net addition of around 200 to 250 branches annually, despite already having one of the country’s largest banking networks. He said there remained “white space” in several areas, including newly developed residential colonies and commercially active districts where the bank could strengthen its presence.
The expansion will be accompanied by rationalisation of some existing branches, he said, with the overall network still expected to grow by 200-250 branches on a net basis.
The plans come as banks increasingly move routine transactions to digital channels while retaining and expanding physical branches for customer acquisition, deposits, lending and other services.
SBI eyes NSE dilution
Setty also said SBI and its subsidiary SBI Capital Markets Ltd plan to dilute up to a combined 1 per cent stake in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) through the bourse’s proposed Rs 30,000-crore initial public offering.
SBI proposes to divest 0.65 per cent, while SBI Capital Markets plans to sell 0.35 per cent. “So together, about 1 per cent as an SBI group... it could be less depending on any other shareholders joining,” Setty said.
SBI currently owns 3.23 per cent of NSE, while SBI Capital Markets holds 4.33 per cent. The proposed IPO received regulatory approval last week and, at Rs 30,000 crore, could become India’s largest-ever public offering, surpassing Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,858.75-crore IPO in 2024 and LIC’s Rs 20,557.23-crore issue in 2022.
Setty, however, ruled out immediate plans to monetise stakes in SBI’s other subsidiaries.
In July, SBI and its French partner Amundi diluted around 10 per cent in SBI Mutual Fund, including through a pre-IPO transaction. The Rs 11,675-crore offering was subscribed 41.66 times. Following the listing, SBI’s holding declined from 61.86 per cent to 55.56 per cent, while Amundi’s stake fell by 3.7 percentage points to 32.63 per cent.