Canara Bank may close Rs 3,500-crore QIP issue by November

State-run Canara Bank which has board approval to raise Rs 3,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) is awaiting government approval for the same and expects to mop up the money by November.
"We are yet to get approval for QIP from the government. Earlier we had started the QIP process presuming that it will happen before September, but until all approvals are in place, we cannot go ahead. Now, I think it will happen by October end or the first fortnight of November," Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey told reporters here today.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the annual banking event jointly organised by the industry lobby FICCI and Indian Bankers' Association.

The South India-based state-run bank has already received board and Reserve Bank approvals for raising up to Rs 3,500 crore through a QIP issue.
Dubey said despite slow corporate credit demand, he expects the overall credit growth for his bank to be at 17 per cent to 18 per cent this fiscal.
"Credit demand from retail, SME and agricultural sectors is very robust at around 25 per cent to 40 per cent. Even if corporate credit growth is around 10 per cent to 15 per cent we will be around 17 per cent to 18 per cent this fiscal," he said. Credit growth has been trending at 12 per cent to 13 per cent so far this year.

He said the bank did not sell any stressed assets in the current quarter to asset reconstruction companies so far but it is in the process of doing so and will finalised the deal in next 15 days.

Dubey sees non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank improving to 2.4 per cent in the September quarter from 2.6 per cent in the June quarter.
"If the NPA sale to asset reconstruction companies happen then NPAs will definitely be 2.4 per cent and if it doesn't, then it will be at 2.5 per cent in the September quarter," he said.
Dubey said that he expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates merely by 25 basis points to 50 basis points in January.