State Bank of India plans to hire between 3,000 and 4,000 employees over the next year to strengthen its loan recovery and collections infrastructure, according to chairman CS Setty, signalling a sharper focus on early-stage stress management despite a significant improvement in asset quality.
The hiring push comes at a time when SBI is reporting some of its strongest loan performance metrics in years. The bank’s net non-performing asset ratio fell to 0.39% in the March quarter, down from 0.47% a year earlier, while gross NPAs declined to 1.49% from 1.82%.
Speaking to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of SBI’s fourth-quarter earnings announcement, Setty said the bank wanted to build a stronger field-level recovery framework as its loan book expands and regulatory expectations around credit monitoring tighten.
“We are now launching a strong collections mechanism. We will be employing almost 3,000 to 4,000 people on the loan-collection front,” Setty told the publication.
SBI sharpens focus on early-stage stress detection
The recruitment drive reflects a broader shift in how Indian banks are approaching loan monitoring and recovery operations.
Rather than waiting for loans to deteriorate into full-fledged bad assets, lenders are increasingly investing in systems designed to identify stress much earlier in the repayment cycle.
Setty said SBI’s new collection framework is intended to stop vulnerable accounts from slipping into the bank’s balance sheet as stressed assets.
The move also aligns with the Reserve Bank of India’s proposed Expected Credit Loss (ECL) framework, which could require banks to make provisions even for accounts classified as SMA-1, or Special Mention Accounts showing initial signs of repayment stress.
Under the ECL regime, banks may need to anticipate potential defaults earlier instead of provisioning only after loans become non-performing.
That shift is expected to place greater emphasis on:
- Early-stage collections
- Recovery infrastructure
- Credit monitoring systems
- Field recovery teams
- Risk analytics and underwriting discipline
According to Setty, SBI has already significantly strengthened its underwriting standards.
“Nobody can get this kind of asset quality, and we completely revamped our underwriting,” he said.
New hires to operate through subsidiary structure
SBI clarified that the recruitment drive would not involve redeploying existing bank employees into collection roles.
Instead, the bank plans to use its subsidiary network to build the new workforce.
“They will not come from the existing employee base. Instead, we will look to leverage our subsidiary. They will be on the field but centrally managed by us,” Setty said.
The structure suggests SBI is aiming to create a specialised operational network focused specifically on collections and recovery management while maintaining central oversight from the bank.
The field-based approach may also help the lender improve borrower engagement and recovery efficiency across geographically dispersed retail and small business loan portfolios.
Asset quality improves even as loan book expands
The hiring announcement stands out because it comes despite a substantial improvement in SBI’s asset quality indicators.
Indian banks have spent several years cleaning up balance sheets after a prolonged cycle of corporate bad loans and stressed infrastructure lending.
SBI’s latest numbers indicate that the bank’s credit performance has strengthened considerably:
- Net NPA ratio improved to 0.39%
- Gross NPA ratio declined to 1.49%
- Standalone net profit rose 5.6% year-on-year
- January-March quarter profit reached ₹19,684 crore
- Dividend announced at ₹17.35 per share
The lender also expanded its workforce during the financial year.
SBI employed approximately 2.45 lakh people at the end of FY26, compared with 2.36 lakh employees a year earlier.
The additional recovery hiring will further expand the bank’s operational footprint as it balances growth with tighter risk management.