Indian Bank eyes Rs 5 lakh cr total biz in three years

Indian Bank, one of the country's leading public sector banks, is eyeing a pan-India business of Rs five lakh crore and a net profit of Rs 2500 crore in the next three years.

Addressing media persons here, Rajeev Rishi, executive director, Indian Bank said, “Over the next three years, we are targeting a total business of Rs five lakh crore and a net profit of Rs 2500 crore. The bank expects to have around 2500 branches by that period, up from the existing 1818 branches.”

Stating that the bank has registered a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 25 per cent in its total business in the past four years, he said, the bank expects to close the current fiscal with a turnover of Rs 1.85 lakh crore. Out of this, Rs 1.12 lakh crore will be deposits and Rs 73,000 crore advances.

While the bank has posted a year-on-year growth of 18.5 per cent in deposits, the year-on-year growth in advances was nearly 25 per cent.

The PSU bank is also looking to ramp up its workforce from 19000 at present to over 25000 in the next three years.

“Our CD (Credit Deposit) ratio has been 70 per cent and priority sector lending stands at 44 per cent which is more than the RBI stipulation of 40 per cent. Our bank has also been very proactive in recovery and NPA (Non-Performing Assets) management. Indian Bank has a system based identification of NPAs and the bank has a special cell called Credit Monitoring Cell”, Rishi said.

In the Orissa market, the bank is eyeing a total business of Rs 2400 crore in 2010-11 compared to Rs 2100 crore achieved in the last fiscal.

The bank which has 58 branches in the state currently, is aiming to scale up its branch network. It has licensees to open 13 more branches, thereby covering all the districts of the state. These branches would be opened in the next three months.

Responding to a query on Financial Inclusion, he said, “Out of 1358 villages allocated to us under the Financial Inclusion Plan, we have already covered around 500 villages. In Orissa, we have been allotted 47 villages and the Indian Bank has already opened a branch at a village near Choudwar. The bank plans to open one more branch near Pattamundai soon.”

Indian Bank, on Tuesday, opened a new branch in the Kalinga Vihar locality of the city. The bank was inaugurated by S C Dash, executive director (finance), National Aluminium Company (Nalco). Malay Mukherjee, general manager and N Gopi Satyanarayana, deputy general manager and circle head (Orissa) were present on the occasion.