The Hindu Business Line : Gupta wants to raise PNB's market share to 7.5 pc

MR S.C. Gupta recently took over as Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab National Bank. Mr Gupta was earlier the CMD of Indian Overseas Bank. In a short conversation with Business Line, Mr Gupta gives his initial impressions about the bank and its priorities.

You have already had a good look at PNB. What are your assessment of and vision for the bank?

It is an excellent institution. We are already number one among the nationalised banks. My plan is not only to retain the number one slot among nationalised banks, but also to enhance our market share from 6.46 per cent to about 7-7.5 per cent by March 2007.

For this, we have to leverage our strengths such as 100 per cent branch computerisation. We also have the strength of 1,150 banks under CBS.

I would like to see the number increase to around 2,000 branches (PNB has over 4,000 branches).

What are your thrust areas at the operational level?

We have to look at avenues other than credit growth. I would like our fee-based income to grow at a much faster pace. The bank would also look at introduction of new products. We want to increase our presence in areas such as credit card and merchant banking activities.

Are you looking at any internal restructuring?

My focus would be on streamlining human resources policies. We want to really take care of our staff. For this, we need to adopt policies through which the staff would be given timely promotions. I would also look at the possibility of creating more opportunities for the brighter staff to move up the ladder.

How are you placed as far as NPAs are concerned?

Our net NPAs are around 0.20 per cent, one of the lowest among the industry. But my real concern is our gross NPAs which at 5.96 per cent are slightly more than those of the peer group. Already, there is a lot of awareness among the field staff over the need to reduce this. The immediate aim is to bring the gross NPAs to between four per cent and five per cent.

Over the past several months, there had been a lot of talk about the merger of public sector banks. But of late there seems to be a lull. Whenever consolidation takes place, PNB naturally should be in the forefront of action. What are your views on taking over other banks?

I will acquire a bank only if the deal makes business sense for us. I will not go ahead and acquire a bank just for the sake of being part of the consolidation drive.

For us, consolidation should give us better presence not only in the domestic market but also overseas. However, I would like to make it clear that there is no such proposal before us. I do not think that we need any inorganic growth, but if the opportunity comes we would look at it in a manner that it adds value for our shareholders.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Rupee recovers; bond prices fall

LIC to expand portfolio of mid-cap companies

LIC Madurai division collects Rs 122 cr as first premium income

10-year yields poised for 7.5 pc

FDI computation: Foreign stake no bar on PSBs' investment in telecom cos

Reliance Info, SBI in pact for bill payment

Central Bank pays Rs 35 cr to Govt

`SMEs may be hit if interest rate cap on export credit is hiked'

No prior RBI nod needed for global debit cards

Left will `win' the fight against PSB mergers

Gupta wants to raise PNB's market share to 7.5 pc