M.S. Sundara Rajan, chairman and managing director, Indian Bank, has reasons to cheer. Indian Bank, which had almost been written off as dead 10 years ago, has turned around and is today the country’s favourite public sector bank. Rajan spoke to HT’s Mahua Venkatesh on how the bank turned around and its future. Excerpts:
Indian Bank has been ranked the best public sector bank in the country? What has changed over the last few years for customers to choose your bank over others?
We have tried to aggressively connect with the customers. Besides, we have also tried to position ourselves as a bank that is not there only to serve the customers in the south but the whole of India. It was critical for us to have a pan-Indian presence and we have successfully done that.
What kind of business growth have you seen over the last couple of years?
We have managed to stay ahead of the competition. We have seen deposit and credit growth higher than the industry average and that has been encouraging. We hope to achieve 17 per cent growth in deposits and 20 per cent in credit.
What initiatives have you taken to expand the scope of financial inclusion?
It should be our social responsibility to give as much as possible to our farmers. We have engaged rural development officers and agricultural experts to provide counselling to farmers. There should be a mechanism of joint liability and thereby bring in those who are outside the banking net into the fold.
What initiatives have you taken to expand the scope of financial inclusion?
It should be our social responsibility to give as much as possible to our farmers. We have engaged rural development officers and agricultural experts to provide counselling to farmers. There should be a mechanism of joint liability and thereby bring in those who are outside the banking net into the fold.