A leading figure in India’s banking sector, Indian Bank, has announced it is aiming to retain ambitious double-digit growth targets going into the financial year 2025. This announcement came from the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, S.L. Jain, during a recent press meet. During the previous fiscal, Indian Bank set its sights on an 8-10% growth in deposits, surpassing expectations with an 11% increase. Meanwhile, the credit growth target ranged between 10-12%, but the bank achieved an impressive 13%.
Continuing this pattern of robust growth, Indian Bank is setting its deposit growth target to 8-10% for FY25, and the credit growth is anticipated to be between 11-13%. Jain iterated the bank’s strategy of setting achievable goals, stating, “We want to keep the growth target small and achieve it.”
Amidst various national elections, the first quarter of FY25 saw business as usual for the public sector lender. Indian Bank has been receiving consistent credit enquiries from various innovative and crucial sectors. These sectors include renewable energy, solar panel manufacturing, ethanol production, food processing, e-commerce, city gas distribution, smart city initiatives, data centres, warehousing, infrastructure development, and power generation.
Jain projected that the Retail, Agriculture and MSME (RAM) sector would heighten its contribution to the bank’s gross domestic advances to 63%, increasing from the previous 62%. On the other hand, corporate advances are expected to make up the remaining 37%. Indian Bank’s goal is to maintain a diversified portfolio, which helps in spreading risks more evenly across different market sections. Currently, the institution takes pride in having no reported slippages within the corporate advances category.
While reflecting on the bank’s recent past, Jain commended the positive outcomes of the merger between Allahabad Bank and Indian Bank. There has been a consistent increase in the net profit of the merged entity since FY21, climbing from ₹3,005 crore to ₹8,063 crore in FY24.
When queried about the recovery efforts regarding bad debts, Jain confidently conveyed that the bank had set a target of ₹8,000 crore in the prior year and had impressively recovered in excess of ₹8,799 crore. The bank is poised to recover another ₹8,000 crore this year, buoyed by the fact that cash recoveries currently are exceeding slippages, which were reported to be ₹6,635 crore, signaling no immediate cause for concern.
Digital innovation within the banking sector has also been a significant focus for Indian Bank. Executive Director Mahesh Kumar Bajaj detailed the advancements in this area, stating that transactions conducted through ATMs, bunch-note acceptors, and digital channels have seen a 4% increase, amounting to 89% of all transactions. Further highlighting the bank’s digital prowess, Bajaj pointed out that digital business has escalated to ₹81,250 crore, a notable leap from a previous figure of ₹5,640 crore. With such momentum, Indian Bank aims to surpass the ₹1,00,000 crore mark in the current year.
Indian Bank’s strategic initiatives and measurable targets represent a clear vision for growth and stability. The management’s focus on industry diversification, prudent risk management, and embracing digital transformation is indicative of a forward-thinking approach that is poised to benefit not only the institution itself but also its customers and stakeholders in the dynamic landscape of Indian banking.
