Punjab National Bank is targeting a Rs 30 lakh crore business in FY26. Ashok Chandra, MD and CEO of the Punjab National Bank, told PTI that the bank has devised the right strategies to reach a Rs 30 Lakh crore business milestone by the end of the financial year 2026.
“We have a target of Rs 29.56 lakh crore for the current financial year. We may do better than our target and can touch Rs 30 lakh crore by March next year, but let me add that we are very mindful that whatever the top line, we are going to build, it should add profit to my bank,” he said.
Chandra said that he is very conscious of the bottom line. He said that for the same reason, the bank has brought down the bulk deposits and corporate deposits.
The PNB CEO added that, for FY26, the bank is targeting a credit growth of 11 to 12 per cent and a 9 to 10 per cent deposit growth.
“We have a good pipeline of corporate loan books of Rs 1.29 lakh crore, which are in various stages of disbursement. There has been muted growth in the past, as there was a low-yielding advanced corporate loan book. We have shed that. Now, we are very mindful that whatever loan book we are going to build, it should make a good contribution to operating profit,” he pointed out.
Corporate and retail lending
Speaking on corporate lending, Chandra told PTI that the bank is expecting a double-digit growth in the corporate lending segment. He added that the corporate lending decision-making time is going to be no more than 15 days.
In the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) segment, the bank has seen a 17 to 18 per cent growth.
Chandra said that he is expecting a 17 per cent growth in the retail segment. He added that the bank is also focusing on agriculture retail lending and is expecting a 30 to 40 per cent growth in the retail lending in the agriculture segment.
Punjab National Bank NPA sale
Punjab National Bank is gearing up to sell non-performing assets worth Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore to asset reconstruction companies. The second largest public sector bank in the country has identified about 100 non-performing assets that will go for sale in FY26.
Chandra said that the bank expects to recover at least 40 to 50 per cent cost of the non-performing assets via the ARC sale.
“There may be an account where 100 per cent recovery is also going to take place because you have good security now, but in some cases, it could be low”, Chandra added.