SBI gets 1.7mn applications for 1,500 jobs

India’s largest state-run bank has received 1.7mn applications for just 1,500 entry-level clerk jobs - and has promised to examine all of them, a report said yesterday.

State Bank of India chairman Pratip Chaudhuri attributed the huge interest to good marketing and attractive employment terms, with the number of applications underlining the appeal of “jobs for life” in the Indian public sector.

For positions in Mumbai, the bank offered a starting package of Rs69,000 ($1,270) a month for the “probationary officers” including a housing allowance - an attractive perk in the expensive local real estate market.

Chaudhuri said all 1.7mn applicants - more than 1,100 per position available - would be assessed.

“We have conducted such examinations in the past by hiring schools across the country. This time, we may have to do two shifts,” he told the newspaper.