Karnataka Bank to keep its gross NPA level below 5% after provisoning

The private lender expects to have at least Rs 3 trillion of total business by 2020

At a time when the banking sector in India is reeling under a huge burden of rising bad loans, Mangaluru-based private sector lender Karnataka Bank is hopeful of containing its gross non-performing assets (NPA) below five per cent in the current financial year, and doesn't see further slippages from its corporate accounts going ahead.

The bank, with a healthy net interest margin (NIM) of above three per cent, is also planning to reduce its cost of capital to less than one per cent from the current level of around 1.25 per cent. 

"As of now, even with the proactive disclosures of