"The public sector is not open for consolidation with private sector and in the private sector, there are very few options," ICICI Bank Joint Managing Director Chanda Kochhar said.
"Emphasis is on organic growth because of valuations...In the domestic market, the way valuations moved, have made consolidation options very expensive," she said.
Recently, HDFC Bank acquired Rana Talwar-led Centurion Bank of Punjab in a share swap deal, valued at Rs 9,510 crore, in probably the biggest deal in the banking industry. For every 29 share of CBoP, the investors will get one share of HDFC.
India's largest bank State Bank of India faced tremendous resistance when it proposed to merge its subsidiaries, starting with State Bank of Saurashtra with the parent group.
The deal still awaits the Centre's blessings for the marriage. "We evaluate what are the options available between organic and inorganic growth. We always ask can we set up that many number of branches and grow our balance sheet in a short period of time and at what cost?" Kochhar said.