SBI to open 700 branches this year

State Bank of India on Wednesday said it would launch 700 branches in this financial year, a hundred less than half of last year.

State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it would launch 700 branches in this financial year, a hundred less than half of last year.

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“We will add 700 more branches this year,” SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said.

Last financial year, the bank had opened 1,600 branches.

Of the 700 branches, many would be opened in rural areas, Bhatt said.

Like last year, this year the bank plans to reach out to 50,000 villages where there are no banking operations, he said.

The reach out could be through an ATM machine or a point of sale, he said.

The bank would like to raise about Rs 20,000 crore subject to government approval, he said.

“We are happy to raise tier 1 capital,” he said.