Bandhan Bank, the newly launched private sector lender is looking forward to raise a fund of Rs 500 crore from its existing investors. This is claimed to happen by the end of the ongoing fiscal year in order to fund the business expansion plans.
Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, the Managing Director and CEO of Bandhan Bank stated that Rs 500 crore will be raised via funds by the end of this fiscal year.
In India, Bandhan Bank is the very first example of a micro-finance unit that transformed into a universal bank. The private sector institution received an approval from the Reserve Bank of India in the month of April 2014. The banking regulator finally nodded on June 17, 2015.
The above mentioned Rs 500 crore fund will flow in from the already existing investors that will help the bank to develop its business as well as network. The existing investors of the Bandhan Bank include SIDBI, IFC and Caladium Investment Pte. Ltd. that is managed by the GIC Special Investments Pvt. Ltd.
Ghosh stated that Rs 2,700 crore is almost in his book and the other Rs 500 crore will be coming from the investors. The capital will be Rs 3,200 crore and the capital adequacy ratio will be 34 percent. With these figures, they can maintain growth for around three to four years.
The Bandhan Bank stated its operations on August 23 this year, and it has 523 branches right now. The bank is in plans to add another 105 branches in a time frame of five months as a part of the expansion plans it has framed. He confirmed that they like to have 628 branches by the end of this fiscal year. In India, West Bengal has the most number of Bandhan Bank branches and it is followed by Bihar and Assam.
He also revealed that reducing the small saving rate with definitely help the new banks. He claimed that it will make the interest rate on the fixed deposits attractive and the banks will be benefited as the retail money flows to the banks.
