Country's largest PSU bank, State Bank of India (SBI) plans to recruit more than 3,000 people during the ongoing fiscal.

SBI's Chief General Manager (Bhopal Circle), D K Jain said that the bank would go on a hiring spree despite of the slowdown. During the last fiscal, SBI hired around 40,656 staff.

Jain reported that the bank's business for the last fiscal increased by 33.66% to Rs 59,337 crore. The deposit base stood at Rs 36,235 where as advances amounted to Rs 23,102 crore in FY09.

At the same time the bank is also going high on its expansion plans. It has set up to 98 new branches in Bhopal circle that includes both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are around 867 branches in both the states and the number is likely to rise to 1,000 by the end of the fiscal.

Mr Jain informed that special branches would be set up in Bhopal, Raipur and Indore. These branches would deal in government transactions. Later such branches would be opened in Jabalpur and Gwalior as well.

Meanwhile the bank is also planning to come out with a special scheme for meritorious students. "SBI is planning to introduce a scheme to reward 200 meritorious students each from all streams for securing top slots. Besides, educational loan would be given on a concessional rate," said Mr Jain.

The bank has also declared a cut of 25 to 200 basis points in its education loan rates.

There are other PSU banks as well that are planning to recruit over 30,000 people during the current fiscal.