State Bank of India (SBI), country’s largest public sector lender is planning to add 1,200 branches this fiscal. It had added 645 branches in fiscal 2011-12, which was a period of consolidation as the bank had added about 1,000 branches during the preceding three fiscal years.
The banks t-thirds network or 9,400 branches are in rural and semi-urban areas, as RBI mandates that at least one in four new branches should be in an un-banked rural area. The existing branch structure allows them considerable cushion to expand in urban and metro areas.
