We Have Excellent Value Creation For Our Stakeholders

Indian banking industry is going through a lot of change such as issuance of small and differentiated banks. How is it going to change the banking landscape in India?

It is good for the country; actually we are now aligning our banking sector with developing nations and Western countries in particular, regional sector bank, national bank, World Bank. Some of the specific bank is catering to different states, while there are some banks that cater towards a specific region. There is a role to play simultaneously and they are playing a very significant role. Even people from India who go there, such as employees of soft ware companies open account with very small banks. They give good service, technology driven for money transfer and other things. They have arrangement with ICICI Bank and many other banks. Without any branches these small banks are doing a wonderful job. Initially these banks will take time to survive, but later they will give good performance.

There are some talks doing the rounds about mergers of some public sector banks with other public sector banks?

It is in the news that the State Bank group is going for merger. Taking that into consideration, it will take some time to happen as the government will look into the process. If you go back to the 1991 Narasimham Committee, the recommendation was that India should have few banks of global standard, some banks of national standard and some banks of local standard. At that time the idea was noted but now it is not going forward and the government should take necessary steps for that.

What are your estimates of loan growth for your bank and industry as a whole for FY15?

This may be aligned with the industry and we have improved with industry standards. How comfortable is your bank in meeting

Basel III requirements? Do you have any plans of raising funds in the near future?

We have a timeline for that and it takes a long time to completely move forward to Basel III. As far as raising funds is concerned, all the banks are in the planning mode now, we just have to wait and watch.

What are they key challenges and opportunities that you see for the banking sector in India in next couple of years?

Now there are greenshoots in industrial growth which will give some impetus to banking growth also.

With the sharp downturn in the economy, non-performing assets of the banks have increased substantially in the last couple of years. What is your outlook on NPAs going forward?

Now the worst is over.

What are your thoughts on value creation for shareholders by your bank?

Fundamentally it is improving, our fundamentals are strong. We have excellent value creation for the stakeholders. If you see for the last one year, we are fundamentally improving our Balance Sheet, so that will - help.