Private sector banks are set to become one of the most aggressive recruiters this fiscal as they go on a major expansion spree, opening up over 10,000 vacancies.

Private sector banks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank, IDBI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Centurion Bank are all on a hiring binge to support their fresh business plans and expand their branch network.

Most banks prefer employees with management degree and maximum one-two years experience for senior post. While for junior level staff, graduates with two-three years experience are preferred. ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank in the country, will recruit 4,500 personnel by October.

The bank is increasing its manpower purely to scale up operations as it adds 150,000 new accounts monthly. It aims at doubling its assets and liability portfolio in the current fiscal.

"To facilitate growth and support the bank's branch expansion plans, we have decided to increase manpower," said K Ramkumar, senior general manager and head-human resources, ICICI Bank.

Of the 4,500 new recruits, 2,000 will be deployed in the sales department, 1,000 in new branches and another 1,000 for service business, added Ramkumar.

At present, the employee strength of the bank stands at 14,000. It proposes to increase its branch presence by 25 per cent in the current fiscal, subject to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval, said a bank official. It currently has 460 branches.

HDFC Bank also plans to add over 100 new branches to its existing network of 358, said a senior bank official. The employee strength of the bank as on March 31, 2004, stood at 5,500. The bank will recruit around 1,200 new personnel this fiscal, he added.

IDBI Bank, also in the expansion mode, has received RBI approval for opening 30 fresh branches to support its geographical expansion. With this, it plans to recruit fresh talent, said Nageshwar Rao, managing director, IDBI Bank. At present, the employee strength of the bank stands at 1,800.

UTI Bank plans to recruit over 1,200 personnel in the current fiscal, thereby increase its employee strength to around 4,700 from the current 3,500 employees, said S Bhattacharya, senior vice-president, human resource, UTI Bank. The bank also plans to add 15 to 20 agriculture graduates to boost its agri sector lending, he added.