Dhanalakshmi Bank to hire 1,300 employees

KOCHI: Even as most companies in India and abroad are busy laying off staff to cut costs and beat recession, Kerala-based Dhanalakshmi Bank is on a hiring spree and plans to recruit 1,300 employees, taking the total employee strength to 2,700 by 2010.

The bank is also planning to raise Rs 400 crore of Tier II capital by June this year, Dhanalakshmi Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaturvedi told reporters here last night.

At present, the Thrissur-headquartered bank has about 1,400 staff on its rolls. The selection of new recruits would be on an all-India basis, Chaturvedi said.

The bank plans to add 66 new branches all over India this year to total 273 branches. In Delhi, seven more branches would be added from the present three and in Mumbai 19 more branches are planned, he said.

"Never in the bank's history has so many approvals been received for opening new branches," he said.

In Kerala, the bank would focus on Kasaragod, Kannur and Malappuram. The bank's CD ratio was 67 per cent and in Kerala, it was 50 per cent, he said. Dhanalakshmi's NRI deposit was less than Rs 300 crore and the bank would focus on Gulf Malayalees, he said.