UTI Bank to recruit 40 agri graduates

UTI Bank has decided to recruit around 40 agriculture graduates to boost its agri sector lending. The move is in tune with the Centre's thrust to give a leg-up to the agriculture sector.

Priority sector lending accounts for 43 per cent of UTI Bank's net bank credit.

"In April the bank had opened five rural branches (three in Ludhiana and two in the west Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh) and recruited 36 agriculture graduates from various management institutes," said S Bhattacharya, senior vice-president, human resource, UTI Bank.

The bank plans to recruit more than 1,200 people, mostly junior level officers, as the bank expands its branch network in an effort to grow its retail and corporate business.

"Most of these recruitments are for branch level staff and some back-end processing, and these staff will handle the additional businesses," he added.

"Retail, treasury and credit operations are complex operations and hence we would need people with specialised skills," said Bhattacharya.

Currently the staff strength of the bank stands at 3,500 and the average age of an employee is 31 years. The attrition rate of the bank is around 5.3 per cent.

"The bank plans to open 50 branches by March 2005 and has sought the Reserve Bank of India's approval," said sources.

At present the bank has 213 branches and 67 extension counters. Meanwhile, its automated teller machine network has grown to around 1,310 so far.