Letters: Puri proved his mettle

Bank's gross non-performing asset level is at 1.02% of gross advances

The ‘Banking Annual’ released as a supplement to the edition dated December 19 of Business Standard was nice and of a particular interest to me as a banker. The new generation HDFC Bank in the private banking space came into being as a product of liberalisation in the early nineties has been a consistent performer in the market with an excellent track record and a clean and good image built up. The bank understands the market realities well and is also not averse to growing inorganically as and when the opportunities arise like in the cases of the acquisition of Times Bank earlier and subsequently the Centurion Bank of Punjab.
 
It is absolutely incredible to note the bank’s gross non-performing asset level is at 1.02 per cent of gross advances in these times of prolonged economic slowdown and enormous uncertainty and volatility persisting globally. This indicates the bank has a robust risk management profile in place and that the bank has a strong balance sheet to weather a  storm and stay ahead in the race. It should not, therefore, come as a surprise that Aditya Puri, managing director and chief executive, who has nurtured the bank since inception has bagged the prestigious BS Banker of the year award. This one is a classic example of thriving on disruption

Srinivasan Umashankar  Nagpur