Indian Bank plans 100 new branches, 2,500 new recruits as it looks to strengthen presence in central, western India
The Indian Bank is set to add 100 branches this year as it continues to focus on increasing its footprint in the central and western regions of India, PTI reported on Tuesday.
The bank will also be adding 2,500 employees to its personnel, including specialist officers, as it tries to manage its growing business while replacing retiring employees.
“Last year we opened 100 branches. This year too we have similar plans. Just on August 15, which was our foundation day, the bank inaugurated 15 branches across the country,” Indian Bank MD and CEO Binod Kumar told PTI in an interaction.
Currently, the bank has 6,003 branches across the world, including in Singapore, Colombo, as well as Jaffna, It also has an IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, as of 30 June, 2026.
When the bank merged with the erstwhile Allahabad Bank in 2020, it became the seventh0-biggest public sector bank in India and also boosted its presence in easter India as well as Uttar Pradesh.
“Now we are trying to increase our presence in the Central and Western parts of the country,” Kumar said.
While the total number of employees of the company was 41,875 at the end of 30 June, 2026, it now plans to recruit 2,500 more in the ongoing fiscal year.
The bank is aiming to bring down its non-performing assets (NPAs) to around 1.5 to 1.6 per cent of total advances, while the target to bring down Net NPAs is 0.15 to 0.20 per cent by the end of the current fiscal year.
Kumar also told PTI that the bank will be undertaking the sale of ₹200 crore in bad loans to an asset reconstruction company during the current fiscal year.
When it comes to assets, he said that the bank is expecting its gold loan book to cross the ₹1.5 lakh crore mark in the current financial year as demand continues to be robust.
“Gold loan is safe lending for banks…it is not a consumption loan, but mostly it is income-generating and also helps small businesses to grow.
“Last year, we saw very significant growth of 30 per cent in the segment due to a jump in gold prices. It will be slower this year as there is a 30 per cent decline in gold prices,” Kumar told PTI.
Kumar further said that RAM (Retail, Agriculture, and MSME) constitutes 65 per cent of the overall loan book while the remaining 35 per cent is from corporate.
He said that Indian Bank wants to maintain the ratio going forward, while adding that RAM has major capacity for growth and that there is a lot of opportunity in agriculture as well as MSMEs.
