Banking | SIDBI

SIDBI Grade A 2026 cycle (notification awaited)

Officer recruitment into SIDBI, the apex institution for micro, small and medium enterprises, over a qualifying Phase I with an MSME section, a descriptive Phase II and an interview.

Awaiting notification5 stages1 free mock test

Overview

Conducting body: SIDBIwww.sidbi.in
Age limit: 21 to 30 years
Application fee: ₹175 to ₹1,100
Vacancies: To be announced
First stage duration: 2 hr
Negative marking: 1/4 mark per wrong answer

SIDBI Assistant Manager in Grade A (General and Specialist streams) is conducted by Small Industries Development Bank of India. Selection runs through 5 stages: Phase I: Online Screening Examination, Phase II: Online Examination (Paper I, English Language, descriptive), Phase II: Online Examination (Paper II, MSMEs), Psychometric Test, Interview.

Clear Phase I, a qualifying screen where only General Awareness, the MSME section and the Stream Specific Test count towards the shortlist.
Sit Phase II, whose descriptive English paper and MSME paper decide the merit.
Take the psychometric test, whose findings go to the interview board.
Attend the interview, which carries 100 marks.
The final merit list combines the Phase II marks and the interview.

Important dates

Important dates
Event	Date	Status
2026 recruitment notification Not yet released for 2026. SIDBI advertises Grade A and Grade B officer posts on the Careers section of sidbi.in. Every date here is indicative until the official advertisement appears, so verify against the portal.	To be announced	Not announced
Online application window Opens with the notification and usually stays open for two to three weeks, with fee payment running alongside.	To be announced	Not announced
Phase I (online screening) examination Held a few weeks after applications close. The date, shift and centre are on the call letter.	To be announced	Not announced
Phase II (online) examination For candidates who clear Phase I, roughly a month later.	To be announced	Not announced
Psychometric test and interview The psychometric test feeds the interview board; the interview follows for candidates who clear Phase II.	To be announced	Not announced

Eligibility

Educational qualification

Open toGraduate Postgraduate

For the General stream, graduation with at least 60% marks (55% for SC, ST and PwBD) in Commerce, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, Business Administration or Engineering, or a professional qualification such as CA, CS, CMA or CFA, or a full-time MBA or PGDM.

Specialist streams such as Legal, IT, Rajbhasha and Civil Engineering need the corresponding degree and are examined on that subject through the Stream Specific Test. Read the stream you are applying for in the notification carefully.

Age

21 to 30 years as on the cut-off date stated in the official notification.

Upper age relaxation

SC and ST+5 years
OBC (non-creamy layer)+3 years
Persons with Benchmark Disability (unreserved)+10 years
Ex-servicemen+5 years

Nationality

A candidate must be one of the following:

A citizen of India
A subject of Nepal or Bhutan
A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 intending to settle permanently
A person of Indian origin who has migrated from specified countries intending to settle permanently in India

Application fee

Category	Fee
General, OBC and EWS Application fee plus intimation charges in the most recent cycle, non-refundable. Confirm the current figure from the 2026 notification.	₹1,100
SC, ST and PwBD Intimation charges only in the most recent cycle, non-refundable.	₹175

Fees have been stable across recent cycles but are the kind of detail a notification can revise. Confirm on the official notification before paying.

Exam pattern

Stage by stage structure with question counts, marks, timing and the marking scheme.

Stage 1: Phase I: Online Screening Examination

Computer based testQualifying only

Section	Questions	Marks
English Language (qualifying)	30	30
Reasoning Aptitude (qualifying)	25	25
Quantitative Aptitude (qualifying)	25	25
Computer Knowledge (qualifying)	20	20
General Awareness (merit)	20	20
MSMEs: policy, regulation, finance and management (merit)	30	30
Stream Specific Test (merit)	50	50
Total	200	200

Duration: 2 hr|Negative marking: 1/4 mark per wrong answer

200 questions for 200 marks in a composite 120 minutes.
Only General Awareness, the MSME section and the Stream Specific Test count towards the shortlist for Phase II; English, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and Computer Knowledge are only qualifying.
Phase I marks do not enter the final merit list.

Stage 2: Phase II: Online Examination (Paper I, English Language, descriptive)

Descriptive, typed

Section	Questions	Marks
English: essay, precis and business correspondence	3	75
Total	3	75

Duration: 1 hr 15 min|Negative marking: None

Answers are typed on the computer.
Tests officer-level writing: essay, precis and letter or business correspondence.

Stage 3: Phase II: Online Examination (Paper II, MSMEs)

Computer based testSectional timing

Section	Questions	Marks	Time
MSMEs: policy, finance, NPA and credit (objective)	50	75	60 min
MSMEs: applied finance and management (descriptive)	4	50	75 min
Total	54	125	2 hr 15 min

Duration: 2 hr 15 min|Negative marking: 1/4 mark per wrong answer

Paper II is on MSME policy and finance for the General stream, or the stream subject for specialists, and mixes objective and descriptive questions for 125 marks.
Phase II marks decide the merit for the interview.

Stage 4: Psychometric Test

Computer based testQualifying only

Duration: Varies|Negative marking: None

Assesses personality and suitability; its findings are placed before the interview board rather than scored into the merit.

Stage 5: Interview

Interview

Duration: Varies|Negative marking: None

Carries 100 marks and includes credit for notable achievements on documentary proof.
The final merit list combines the Phase II marks and the interview.

Syllabus

Every subject in the paper, topic by topic. Open a subject for its weightage in this exam, the full topic list and the mock tests, practice sets and notes that cover it.

Banking Awareness

MSME definition, policy and regulatory framework
MSME financing: term loans, working capital, due diligence and KYC
NPA, IRAC norms and recovery
NBFC financing, credit risk assessment and financial ratios
Promotion and development of MSMEs in India, and SIDBI's own schemes

Banking Awareness guide & weightage →

General Awareness

Banking and financial sector awareness
Economic and social issues
Government schemes and current affairs
Stream-specific general knowledge for the Stream Specific Test

General Awareness guide & weightage →

Reasoning Ability

Puzzles and seating arrangement
Syllogism and inequality
Coding and decoding, blood relations and directions

Reasoning Ability guide & weightage →

Quantitative Aptitude

Data interpretation
Simplification and number series
Arithmetic and quadratic equations

Quantitative Aptitude guide & weightage →

English Language

Reading comprehension, cloze test and error detection
Para jumbles and fillers
Descriptive writing: essay, precis and business correspondence

English Language guide & weightage →

Computer Aptitude

Computer fundamentals and terminology
Hardware, software and networking basics

Computer Aptitude guide & weightage →

How to apply

Register on the SIDBI recruitment portal
Open the Careers section on sidbi.in, choose the Grade A advertisement and register with your name, email and mobile number. Save the registration number and password.
Fill the application and choose your stream
Complete the form with your education, category and the stream you are eligible for, since the Stream Specific Test and Phase II depend on it.
Upload documents and pay the fee
Upload photograph, signature and any required documents, then pay the fee online or claim the exemption. Save the e-receipt and the application printout.

Documents to keep ready

Valid photo identity proof such as Aadhaar, PAN, passport, driving licence or voter ID
Graduation and, where relevant, post-graduation or professional certificates and mark-sheets
Category certificate (SC, ST, OBC, EWS) in the prescribed format, where applicable
PwBD certificate issued by the competent authority, where applicable
Recent passport-size photograph and signature matching the uploads

Salary and job profile

Pay and allowances

Pay scale:: Grade A officer scale; entry basic pay around Rs 44,500 in the current scale.
Initial basic pay:: To be announced
Approximate in-hand:: To be announced

Allowances

Dearness Allowance revised periodically
House Rent Allowance or accommodation
Grade Allowance and Special Allowance
Local Compensatory Allowance

Perks

Medical benefits for self and dependants
Leave Fare Concession
Concessional interest on housing and vehicle loans
Pension under the National Pension System

Figures follow SIDBI's wage structure and the city of posting. Treat them as indicative and confirm from the official notification.

What the job involves

Appraising, sanctioning and monitoring credit to micro, small and medium enterprises.
Working on refinance and development schemes that channel funds to MSMEs through banks and NBFCs.
Risk, recovery and relationship management for the MSME portfolio.
Implementing SIDBI's development and promotional initiatives for the small-enterprise sector.
Postings across SIDBI's head office in Lucknow, its Mumbai office and branches nationwide.

Free mock tests

Written to this exam's pattern, with the same interface, sectional locking and marking scheme you will face on exam day.

SIDBI Grade A: 30-question practice mock
30 questions | 30 min
Start

How to prepare for SIDBI Grade A

The MSME section is the differentiator. Build it from SIDBI's own material and standard MSME-finance sources, because a generic banking-awareness book will not cover the policy and credit detail this exam asks for.
Treat the four qualifying Phase I sections as a threshold: practise enough to clear the cut-off, but spend your marginal hour on the merit sections instead.
Phase II is descriptive and typed on a computer. Practise an essay, a precis and a business letter to a clock, and practise writing applied MSME-finance answers.
Keep a note of financial-sector current affairs and MSME schemes, which recur across General Awareness, the MSME section and the interview.
If you are a specialist-stream candidate, revise your degree subject for the Stream Specific Test and Phase II Paper II.

Practise SIDBI Grade A by topic

Free question banks with worked solutions for the topics SIDBI Grade A tests. Drill one topic at a time, then sit a full mock and keep a daily habit going.

Data Interpretation39

Daily quiz

A fresh mixed set every day to keep every section warm.

Untimed practice drills

Learn a topic with the method shown after every question.

Current affairs

Daily, sourced digests for the general-awareness section.

Frequently asked questions

What makes SIDBI Grade A different from a bank PO exam?

The MSME section in Phase I and the MSME-focused Phase II Paper II. SIDBI is the apex institution for small enterprises, so its exam tests policy, financing and credit for the MSME sector in a way a general bank PO paper does not.

Which Phase I sections count towards selection?

Only General Awareness, the MSME section and the Stream Specific Test are used to shortlist for Phase II. English, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and Computer Knowledge are qualifying, so you must clear their cut-off but the marks do not add to your merit.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, one fourth of a mark for each wrong objective answer, in Phase I and in the objective part of Phase II Paper II. The descriptive paper carries no negative marking.

Do Phase I marks count in the final merit?

No. Phase I is only a screen. The final merit is built from the Phase II marks and the 100-mark interview.

Last verified 20 August 2026(36 days ago, by editorial)

Not yet confirmed for this cycle: the schedule, the vacancy count, the application fee, pay scale and gross pay. Where we have a figure from previous cycles we show it and label it as expected; where we do not, the page says "to be announced". Check the official source below before you rely on any of it.

Official sources

SIDBI official website, careers (official portal)

Found something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it, citing the source.