Bandhan Bank to raise exposure of secured loans to 70% by 2025

Private lender Bandhan Bank on Thursday said it will diversify its asset base by increasing exposure to secured loans to 70 per cent by 2025.

The bank will also diversify its geographical presence, MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said.

Ghosh said that percentage of the bank's secured loans at present is 39 per cent. Ten per cent of its exposure will be on retail channels - automobiles including two-wheelers, gold and personal loans.

As per the initial disclosures of the bank, loans and advances of the lender at the end of the second quarter stood at Rs 99,374 crore, reflecting a 22 per cent rise year-on-year.

"The bank will diversify the asset base and exposure to secured loans will grow to 70 per cent by 2025," he told reporters here.

Bandhan Bank announced on Thursday it has appointed former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly as its brand ambassador.

Ghosh said, "The bank will focus on housing loans which are witnessing a good demand growth. MSME will be the other sector that the bank will focus on. Presently, exposure to the MSME sector is 38 per cent, a large part of which is secured."

Starting seven years ago as a bank, Bandhan has 5600 branches, 70 per cent of which are in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country. Mainly concentrated in the east, the bank plans to diversify its presence to other areas in a big way.

He said the acquisition of Gruh Finance by Bandhan in 2019 has helped the bank in diversifying the portfolio, adding that the target now is to increase loans to the housing sector. "Housing loan demand growth has been 26 per cent and it is growing", he added.

The bank will also focus on digital services to bring down the cost of operations, and also employ data analytics to boost growth in the future, Ghosh said.