SBI may hire up to 12,000 employees and open 250 new branches in FY27..

Public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) plans to recruit approximately 11,000 to 12,000 employees during the current financial year (2026-27). Additionally, there are plans to open around 250 new branches. According to news agency PTI, SBI Chairman C.S. Setty stated in an interaction that the bank would make about 11,000 to 12,000 appointments at the clerical and officer levels this fiscal year. While the exact number of hires may fluctuate based on retirements and emerging requirements, the bank expects to recruit close to 12,000 people by the end of the financial year.

Last year, the bank undertook large-scale recruitment, including the hiring of 1,500 specialist Information Technology (IT) officers. However, there is no requirement for such a large number of IT-sector hires this year. As of March 2026, SBI's workforce exceeded 2.45 lakh employees. According to the bank's annual report, SBI recruited a total of 25,633 employees in the 2025-26 financial year, comprising 4,640 officers, 19,340 associates, and 1,653 contractual staff members.

Setty noted that despite already possessing an extensive branch network, there remains scope for SBI to expand in various parts of the country. The bank aims to increase its presence in commercially active districts as well as in newly developed residential colonies. Plans are in place to open between 200 and 250 new branches during the current financial year.

**Plans to Sell Stake in NSE IPO**

Regarding the sale of shares in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) IPO, Setty stated that SBI and its subsidiary, SBI Capital Markets, are planning to sell a combined stake of approximately one percent in the NSE. NSE may sell a 0.65% stake, and SBI Capital Markets may sell a 0.35% stake. If other shareholders also sell their stakes, the sale by the SBI group could potentially remain below 1%. Currently, SBI holds a 3.23% stake in NSE, while SBI Capital Markets holds 4.33%.

NSE is launching an IPO worth ₹30,000 crore. It received approval from the capital market regulator, SEBI, last week. This could be the country's largest IPO to date and has been long-awaited. NSE is the country's largest stock exchange in terms of market share.

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