Finance Ministry wants all banks to serve regions with more than 5000 population

The Finance Ministry has asked all banks, including private sector lenders, to open branches in locations with population of more than 5,000 in the under-banked districts by September, 2012.

Banks to open branches in area with population 5,000 by 2012 - Readability

does not look like a compulsion though. 😕

As if they would. Not the private ones for sure, unless the area with 5000 people actually has 100 crorepatis in which case ICICI might already have a branch running there

IIRC, SBI has a branch in Hyderabad with a min. balance requirement of 1 Cr.