BoB plans to double total biz to ₹48-lakh cr in 5 years
Bank of Baroda (BoB) is planning to add more heft to its balance sheet. India’s second largest public sector bank (PSB) is laying the groundwork to double its total business (deposits plus advances) to ₹48-lakh crore in five years.
BoB’s total business stood at ₹24,17,464 crore as on March-end 2024. SBI, which is also a PSB (with Government being the majority owner), is the largest bank in the country with total business of ₹86,83,612 crore.
Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank are the third and fourth largest PSBs, with total business of ₹23,53,038 crore and ₹22,72,968 crore, respectively.
“We have adopted a fiveyear business plan. It is a rolling plan, whereby we are thinking of doubling our business in five years. Depending on the economic outlook, it (the total business) could go higher or lower. But at least we have a target set to get the ball rolling in that direction,” Debadatta Chand, MD and CEO, told businessline, in an interaction. Chand observed that on a normalised basis, BoB is looking at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of about 13.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). He emphasised that the bank will not sacrifice margins for the sake of growth.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY
“If we achieve this (CAGR), we may get to the kind of business level we are looking at. This will allow us to double our balance sheet,” he said.
Debadatta Chand, MD and CEO, Bank of Baroda
BoB’s global deposits grew 10.2 per cent y-o-y to ₹13,26,958 crore as on Marchend 2024. Global advances grew 12.5 per cent to ₹10,90,506 crore.
Chand said that the bank is considering branch expansion, with plans to add almost 650 branches in a couple of years. BoB had 8,243 branches as on March-end 2024.
Along with this, the bank also plans to augment its manpower. It is re-assessing its manpower requirement as part of the five-year business plan.
“We are also looking at productivity improvements, which can be a benchmark for the industry,” he said.
IT SUBSIDIARY
At the recent fourth quarter results press meet, Chand said the bank plans to revive its wholly-owned IT subsidiary — Barodasun Technologies Ltd. — and also work on talent management and capacity creation.
The IT subsidiary, floated in 2017, has been envisioned to implement enterprise-wide IT projects and development of financial products and solutions across dierent business verticals of the bank.