Vijaya Bank plans to start lending corporates from Q3 of 2015-16

The Karnataka-based bank expects a 15-16% credit growth

Karnataka-based Vijaya Bank is exploring lending to the corporate segment as it expects a full-scale economic recovery from the second half of the fiscal 2015-16.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of renovated Vadapalani branch here, Vijaya Bank managing director and CEO Kishore Sansi said the bank was expecting revival in the economy by second quarter of the next fiscal, and the corporates and mid-corporates business should also start reviving.

He said starting from second half of the next fiscal year, depending upon the revival of the economy, the Bank would start participating in the corporate and mid-corporate projects. However, for the next two quarters, the bank would continue focussing on MSME, MSE and retail credit, agriculture and other priority sectors, he said.

According to him, the bank was in the process of renovating its branches with modern amenities to improve service to customers.

“Our overall credit is expected to grow at an annual 15-16 per cent and the deposits should grow by 18-19 per cent during the next fiscal year,” said Sansi. Total business of the Bank grew by 23.4 per cent to Rs 206,721 crore as on March 2014.

Sansi said the company was in touch with corporate houses to fund the stalled projects and would look into the viability of each project on a case-to-case basis. Of the bank’s gross advances infrastructure has a 29 per cent share, with the power distribution companies having the lion’s share.  

The bank is also looking at launching a new version of mobile banking. For the next couple of quarters, it will focus on penetration of mobile banking to the existing customers. Around 40,000 customers are using mobile banking and the SMS banking is being used by 800,000 customers.

“Our immediate target is whosoever is availing the SMS banking facilities, we would like to give them the entire bouquet of mobile banking products. We expect to phenomenally increase mobile banking by September 2015. We would like to penetrate mobile banking to at least 10 per cent of my operative customers in the next six months,” he said.

The bank is planning to add around 240 branches next year and further take the total to 2,000 branches by 2017. It has 1591 branches, of which, as on January 2015, around 900-plus branches needed renovation.

“Looking at the competitive environment, looking into the comforts of our customers, we have decided that all branches would be airconditioned in the next nine months and about 60 of the residual branches should be taken up for renovation during the next financial year. The residual branches renovation would be completed during the next financial year,” he said.