Major private sector banks continued to expand branch network in the financial year ended March 2023, while public sector banks (PSB) saw a decline in number of branches.
Largest private lender HDFC Bank added nearly 1,500 branches, closing the year with over 7,800, making it the largest number of new branch additions by a scheduled commercial bank in the country.
According to Anindya Banerjee, Group CFO, ICICI Bank, the bank’s pace of branch addition picked up significantly in FY23. Of the 480 new branches during the year, 180 opened in the fourth quarter. “We should see significantly higher branch additions next year (FY24),’‘ he said.
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Axis Bank had 4,903 domestic branches as on March 2023, compared to 4,758 in the year-ago period, besides extension counters in 2,702 centres.
PSBs go slow
Public sector banks are going slow in the addition of brick-and-mortar branches. State Bank of India, for example, added only 139 new branches during the last financial year. As of March 2023, SBI had 22,405 branches, compared to 22,266 in the year-ago period.
“Public sector banks are going slow because we are the first to penetrate urban, semi-urban and rural areas and the private banks are now catching up,’‘ a senior SBI official told BusinessLine, adding that in fulfilling social obligations and spreading financial inclusion, PSBs have a clear mandate and lead.
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RBI data
As per RBI data, the number of public sector bank branches has been decreasing steadily in recent years while it is increasing for private banks. From 87,892 in March 2020, the number of PSB branches fell to 86,311 in FY21 and 84, 258 in FY22. On the other hand, the number of private bank branches increased from 34,794 in FY20 to 37,872 in FY23.
The RBI is yet to release the consolidated data on the number of public and private sector bank branches for the year 2022-23.