SBI’s Ambitious Hiring and Expansion Plan for FY27

In a candid interview with PTI, State Bank of India chairman C. S. Setty revealed that the bank is gearing up for a sizeable hiring drive in FY27. The target? Somewhere between 11,000 and 12,000 fresh appointments covering everything from entry‑level clerical roles to officer‑grade positions.

“The exact figure may shift a bit – it depends on retirements and emerging needs,” Setty said, adding that the bank expects to close the year with roughly 12,000 recruitments. That’s a modest bump after last year’s massive intake of 25,633 staff, which included 4,640 officers, 19,340 associates and 1,653 contractual workers.

Last year’s recruitment spike was largely driven by a one‑off push for 1,500 specialist IT officers. “This year we don’t need that many IT hires,” Setty explained, signalling a more balanced staffing approach.

With a workforce that topped 2.45  lakh employees as of March 2026, SBI remains one of India’s largest private‑sector employers. Yet the bank is not resting on its laurels. It plans to add up to 250 new branches across the country, focusing on “white‑space” zones such as fresh residential colonies and bustling commercial districts.

At the same time, the bank will rationalise a handful of under‑performing outlets. The net effect, Setty expects, will be a growth of roughly 200‑250 branches per year – a modest but strategic expansion.

Alongside the staffing and branch rollout, SBI and its subsidiary SBI Capital Markets are preparing to trim their holdings in the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Together they intend to offload about 1 % of the combined 7.56 % stake – 0.65 % from SBI and 0.35 % from SBI Capital Markets – as part of the NSE’s Rs 30,000‑crore IPO.

Currently, SBI holds a 3.23 % share in the NSE, while SBI Capital Markets owns 4.33 %. The proposed divestment is seen as a move to unlock value for shareholders and support the broader capital‑raising effort.

All told, the bank’s twin strategy of people‑power growth and calibrated network expansion signals a confident outlook for FY27, even as it fine‑tunes its asset portfolio.