State Bank of Patiala to open 40 branches

State Bank of Patiala plans to open 40 new branches in the current financial year.

Bank managing director Ashok Nayar said 30 branches would be opened in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh -- the core area of bank's operations - and 20 in other parts of the country.

To support its network expansion, the bank is also planning to increase the headcount by 1100. “We would hire 200 officers and 900 clerks this year to man the new operations,” he added.

Nayar said the downturn would not have any impact on fund mobilisation as Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh — where the bank has most of its branches — were agriculture-based economies and had a large number of small and medium industries.

“We expect a growth of 35 per cent in core deposits and 20 per cent in advances,” he said.

The bank disbursed Rs 200 crore under the Centre’s agriculture debt waiver scheme in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.