Bandhan Bank has decided to focus on micro loan in the short term and give up large corporate loans. The decision follows the bank having impacted by the IL&FS crisis as it had advanced substantial funds to the beleaguered firm. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD and CEO of the bank, said at the bank’s annual general meeting that the bank has identified 4 pillars of growth – to dominate and defend the core microfinance business, explore and expand affordable housing segment, explore and expand into adjacent domains of retail and micro enterprise, and garner low-cost funds from core and adjacent segments. At present, microfinance constitutes 86% of the bank’s books. The gross NPAs of the bank at the end of Q4 of the financial year 2018-19 stood at 2.04%, up from 1.25% in the same quarter a year ago. The bank had in January acquired Gruh Finance.
