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Andhra Bank is putting more emphasis on reducing its non-performing assets, which are affecting its net margins, said its chairman and managing director CV R Rajendran.
The special drive during the last three months from January to March saw the total NPA accounts coming down to 244,000 from 354,000 it had by the end of December 2014, he told mediapersons here today.
Ruling out any merger with other PSU banks, he said this year they were targeting a growth of 20 per cent both in advances and deposits. As of March 2014, Andhra Bank's total business stood at Rs 2.85 lakh crore (Rs 1.3 lakh cr advances and Rs 1.55 lakh cr deposits). By the end of the current fiscal, it is aiming to take the total business to Rs 3.50 lakh crore, and to Rs 5 lakh crore over the next two to three years.
Rajendran today inaugurated the bank's 100th branch in the Visakhapatnam zone. On the occasion, he said the bank had opened about 600 branches during the last 16 months and over the next two years, another 1,100 branches would come up mostly outside AP. It was also looking at having 100 branches under each of the 36 zones across the country.
"We have decided to set up four new zonal offices at Srikakulam, Meerut, Sambalpur and Belgavi very shortly. Vizianagaram district will become a part of the Srikakulam zone and Visakhapatnam district would become a separate zone," he said.
On the Visakhapatnam zone, which recorded a total business of Rs 7,200 crore in 2014-15, he said they would add another 30 branches in the next couple of years.
