HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh on Thursday said the group ?thankfully? did not look at acquiring Bank of Rajasthan (BoR), as it is yet to overcome the pressures of previous takeovers.

BoR last month announced its merger in an all-share deal valued at over Rs 3,000 crore with ICICI Bank, the country?s largest private sector lender and a rival of HDFC Bank.

?It?s a herculean job dealing with hundreds of thousands of people and four-five hundred branches, how to make it viable, how to change the work habits. We went through it after acquiring Times Bank in 2000 and Centurion Bank of Punjab in 2008,? Parekh said.

?We were tired, we were fatigued after the Centurion Bank of Punjab takeover and we were still struggling to get it right. So, it was too soon. We were not physically & mentally fit to tackle another acquisition and turn it around,? he said.

?It was too soon for us to acquire (BoR). As I said we were tired, we have still not recovered fully after the Centurion acquisition. So, we didn?t even look at it thankfully,? Parekh said. He also clarified that BoR did not come to HDFC Bank for the possible acquisition deal.

Though the bank is not looking at mergers or is in the race to become the largest banking entity in India, HDFC is poised to double its size in every four years.

?Our bank is growing very well, we are satisfied with that. We are not planning to be State Bank of India, we are not looking to grow more than we can chew, what we can handle,? he said. ?Yet, we (HDFC Bank) have been growing at 25-30%.? Asked if this growth rate would continue, Parekh said that he was confident of 20-25% growth in the medium term.

At the end of fiscal ended March 31, 2010, HDFC Bank had total assets of Rs 2.2 lakh crore and total business, comprising deposits and advances, stood at Rs 2.9 lakh crore.

Besides its banking operations through HDFC Bank, HDFC group is also present in mutual fund, life and general insurance and other financial services such as brokerage.

Talking about other subsidiaries promoted by HDFC, Parekh said that they were the second largest player in asset management (mutual fund), but most profitable. HDFC MF had asset under management to tune the tune of over Rs 1 lakh crore at the end of May 2010.