SBI to add1,200 branches this fiscal

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.