Syndicate Bank will foray into the insurance sector as a distributing agency as part of its retail focus and targets a business of over Rs 41,000 crore by the end of this fiscal.
"We are not going to form an insurance company but the bank will distribute insurance products of other banks and companies," syndicate bank chairman D T Pai said.
As part of the retail focus, the bank launched its global credit card in association with Standard Chartered Bank last week on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations in New Delhi and has plans to introduce Internet banking within the next 12 months.
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Pai said the bank has targeted a minimum 15 per cent growth in business this year from the previous year's level of Rs 36,000 crore. Till date, the bank's global business exceeds Rs 37,500 crore, he said.
Syndicate Bank had tapped the capital market in October last year to raise Rs 125 crore which diluted government stake to 76 per cent that raised its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to 11.45 per cent from the previous 9.57 per cent.
Pai said the bank has no immediate plans of raising more capital in the near future even if government was preparing for amending the bank nationalisation bill to dilute its stake in banks to 33 per cent and allow banks to raise more capital.
He said the bank was ready with the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) in line with the government directive to reduce flab but refused to disclose the number of employees who would be offered the scheme.
However, he said the bank was carrying out a human resource development programme including a special training in asset-liability management, treasury management, along with those of attaining computer skills to keep abreast of the latest trends in the sector.
Syndicate Bank, which continues to focus on the rural sector, has also set up five rural entrepreneurship development institutes in Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), Manipal, Karwal, Belgaum and Bellari (all in Karnataka).
The Manipal-based bank has been the pioneer in opening the country's first regional rural bank -- Prathama Bank -- in Uttar Pradesh in 1975. The bank posted a net profit of Rs 215.65 crore last fiscal and has a net non-performing asset of 3.17 per cent.
Pai said the bank would contain its NPA within this level in this fiscal.