HDFC Bank eyes PSB corporate loans

HDFC Bank said the slowdown is an opportunity to grow saying that there is no stress on its credit portfolio. The bank has been exploring refinance opportunities by taking over corporate loans from state owned banks, especially curated loans where the initial risk is mitigated.

"We see the current slowdown as an opportunity," said Aditya Puri, managing director and chief executive director of the bank.

"We will grow, our assets will grow, our liabilities will grow, our swipes will grow, our number of customers will grow and we are very confident," Puri told reporters here.

He said that a search panel of the Board announced earlier will be formed by January to ensure that the chosen successor to lead the bank can work with him for 1-2 months.

There haven't been retrenchments in the industry which should make a lender wary and employment is growing overall, and added that auto majors may have retrenched some temporary workers.

"We see this as a major opportunity as a bank and we see no strain on our credit portfolio," he said, adding it has not compromised on its credit standards and is not lending to over-leveraged persons.

Puri said the bank is looking at semi-urban and rural areas as a major opportunity to grow from here on and underlined that one will be amazed to see the kind of inherent demand that exists.

When asked about his successors, amid a media report saying that the RBI is unlikely to relent on the 70 years retirement age for bank CXOs, Puri said a search panel of the board will be formed by January.

The panel will hire a search agency and a successor will be chosen in such a way that he or she gets to spend at least one or two months with him, Puri, who turns 70 in October next year, he said.

The HDFC Bank Ceo said there is a need for better corporate governance at the co-operative banks, in in the wake of issues at PMC Bank.

HDFC Bank regularly has dealings with cooperative banks but did not have any dealing with PMC Bank, he said.