Indian Bank has announced a major expansion plan for the current financial year. The bank wants to open 100 new branches across the country. MD and CEO Binod Kumar shared that the focus will be on the Central and Western parts of India. As of June 30, 2026, the bank already has 6,003 domestic branches. It also operates in Singapore, Colombo, Jaffna, and Gandhinagar. This new growth follows its 2020 merger with Allahabad Bank, which helped it grow in the East and Uttar Pradesh.

To support this growth, the bank will hire 2,500 new employees this year. These new hires will include general staff and specialist officers. The recruitment will help the bank manage more business and fill gaps left by retiring employees. At the end of June 2026, the bank had a total of 41,875 employees. Adding more staff is a key part of the bank's strategy to improve service and reach more customers in new territories.

On the financial side, Indian Bank is working hard to clean up its books. It aims to reduce Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs - loans that are not being repaid) to between 1.5% and 1.6%. It also wants to bring Net NPAs down to a very low level of 0.15% to 0.2% by the end of the year. To help achieve this, the bank plans to sell 200 crore rupees worth of bad loans to an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC - a firm that buys bad loans from banks to recover them).

Gold loans are a big part of the bank's success. The bank expects its gold loan portfolio to grow by 20% and cross the 1.5 lakh crore rupee mark this year. Last year, this segment grew by 30% because gold prices were very high. Although gold prices have dipped recently, the bank believes more people will still bring in gold to get loans for their small businesses and personal needs. The CEO noted that gold loans are safe for the bank and helpful for borrowers.

The bank's overall lending strategy remains focused on the 'RAM' sector. RAM stands for Retail, Agriculture, and MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises). Currently, these loans make up 65% of the bank's total loan book, while corporate loans make up the remaining 35%. The bank plans to keep this ratio the same because there is a lot of room to grow in agriculture and small business lending.

For bank officers and aspirants, this news shows that Indian Bank is in a strong hiring and growth mode. The bank is becoming more aggressive in Western and Central India, which were traditionally dominated by other lenders. With a focus on low NPAs and high gold loan growth, the bank is positioning itself as a stable and expanding player in the public sector banking space. Watch for new recruitment notifications and branch opening updates in the coming months.