Dena Bank expects the government to provide at least half of the Rs.1,260 crore capital infusion it had sought last fiscal.
Expressing a hope of such a measure being undertaken shortly, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank Ashwani Kumar on Saturday said the capital infusion it had wanted was for two financial years. As per indications, the government, which was working on recapitalisation of state-run banks, was likely to pump Rs.600 crore in the initial part of 2013-14 and the rest towards the fiscal end.
Mr. Kumar, interacting with presspersons on his first visit to Chennai after assuming charge, agreed that Dena Bank would be required to rework its strategies in the event of the capital infusion not happening. The capital requirement of the banks in the country, he added, was huge. The capital adequacy ratio of Dena Bank, he replied to a query, was 11.47 per cent as on December 2012.
Targeting around 24 per cent growth in the current fiscal, the bank expects home, auto and retail loans to play a major role in powering its overall retail loan portfolio. The latest product under the retail loan was Dena Doctor under which a maximum of Rs.3 crore was disbursed to doctors. Among the challenging areas to lend, he added, was infrastructure.
On the expansion plans, he said the mid-sized bank (its business mix crossed Rs.1.50 lakh crore in 2012-13) was looking at opening 150-175 branches this financial year. It had added 122 branches last fiscal. A press release said Dena Bank was present in 21 States and four union territories through a network of 1,600 branches. The bank was looking at doubling the number of ATMs too from the existing 575.
In Chennai region, comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, the bank was planning to take the number of branches from 44 to 54, and set up 26 ATMs this fiscal, Mr. Kumar said.
