Canara Bank expects Rs 500 crore capital from govt this fiscal

Kolkata: State-owned Canara Bank on August 21 said it is expecting a capital infusion of Rs 500 crore from the government this fiscal. "We are expecting a capital infusion of Rs 500 crore from the government this fiscal," Canara Bank CMD R K Dubey said. The bank is already Basel-III compliant, he said, adding that it would require additional capital to support its lending activity. For this purpose, the bank was awaiting the finance ministry's nod for a QIP (qualified institutional placement) of Rs 3,000 crore which it plans to raise.

"We have got the approval from the RBI. Now we are waiting for the nod from the Ministry of Finance," Dubey told reporters on the sidelines of Ficci Banking Conclave here. Dubey said the bank sold Rs 600 crore of assets to ARCs in the first quarter of this fiscal, and another Rs 900 crore of assets would be sold this quarter. "Our target is to achieve a Gross NPA of two per cent and Net NPA of less that 1.5 per cent", Dubey said. Regarding overseas presence, he said the bank has nine branches and one representative office as of now. "We want to have additional 20 more foreign offices," he said. The bank is also planning an FPO in the next fiscal, he said.