After extensive expansion plans, public sector banks (PSBs) are now busy preparing blueprint to augment their productivity substantially to provide a fillip to their profitability in 2010-11.

The economic recession has taught them the hard way to increase their productivity and to protect their profitability with constraints around, bankers told FE.

The PSBs have not been as profitable as the private and foreign banks?and the key to increase their profitability lies in increased productivity, they said.

A senior official of SBI said the bank?s per employee business productivity has increased to Rs 6.79 crore in 2009-10, as against Rs 5.56 crore in 2008-09.

?We hope to push our per employee productivity to cross Rs 8 crore (almost a 20% jump) in 2010-11,?? he said.

KR Kamath, chairman & managing director of Punjab National Bank (PNB), said plans are afoot to increase bank?s per employee business productivity during the current fiscal by growing volume and leveraging technology.

Bank of Baroda chief MD Mallya said, ?Per employee business productivity of my bank, as on March 31, 2010, was at Rs 11 crore. We want to increase it by 25% to commensurate with our plan to grow our business by 25% for the fiscal. We would leverage on our ongoing BPR (business process re-engineering) exercises.?

Canara Bank?s business per employee as on December, 2009, was at Rs 8.58 crore, as against Rs 7.05 crore achieved by the bank during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the bank?s executive director HSU Kamath.

Though the business plans of the bank for the current fiscal are not ready yet, the bank is planning to increase its credit off take by 18-20% and its deposits? by 20-22%.

?In case it happens so, it will definitely replicate in the improvement of the per employee business productivity of my bank,?? he added.

M Narendra, ED of Bank of India, said as on December 31, 2009, bank?s per employee business productivity was at Rs 9.13 crore.

?We plan to raise it up to Rs 11 crore (almost 25% increase)by the end of the current fiscal. Though we will be recruiting 5,000 fresh staff, it is not likely to affect our per employee business productivity as on an average 25% of bank?s employees are set to retire within three to four years.

AP Shukla, general manager & head (HR), Central Bank of India, said per employee productivity at the bank, as on December 31, 2009, was at Rs 6.97 crore. ?We hope that it will cross the mark of Rs 7.5 crore by the end of the current fiscal.??

Indian Overseas Bank?s per employee business productivity was at Rs 6.10 crore as on December, 2009. ?But keeping in view the business growth and measures being taken to control NPAs, I can say that it would cross the mark of Rs 7 crore by the end of the current fiscal. As we are already overstaffed going by the industry standards, we are looking at recruitment of staff in IT sector only, which is likely to help us achieve our goal in respect of per employee business,?? said the bank?s ED, Nupur Mitra.