New Delhi: Central Bank of India is well-positioned to reach the milestone of Rs 5,000 crore annual profit during the current fiscal year after clearing the deferred tax asset, according to the bank's MD and CEO, Kalyan Kumar.
In the March quarter of FY26, the state-owned bank took a one-time hit of Rs 632 crore due to the recognition of deferred tax assets at a rate of 25 percent, as against 35 percent.
Follow The PSUWatch Channel on WhatsApp
"From the current year, we are migrating to the new tax regime and it will give us additional benefit of Rs 600-700 crore in our annual profit that is going to help us in bringing improvement in the bottom line," Kumar told PTI in an interview.
Asked if the bank can cross the Rs 5,000 crore milestone in FY27, he said, "The bank booked a profit of Rs 4,369 crore in FY26 and Rs 5,000 crore should not be any challenge for Central Bank of India (going by the current run rate)."
Stressing that customer centricity is the most important thing for any financial organisation, he said the company must align with the evolving business environment, and that its workforce, processes, and technology play an important role.
To achieve that objective, he said, HR transformation is required to drive business growth in a profitable and sustainable manner.
This is followed by improvements in products and processes that must keep pace with changing times, he said, adding that segment-wise products have been created now on the liability side and also on the asset side.
Thirdly, he said, technology serves as a very important tool for business growth. Citing an example, he said, suppose if you want to remain relevant for current account holders, the bank needs to provide a host of services, including cash management, a user-friendly mobile app for ease of transactions etc.
Stressing that banking is a trust business, he said, for maintaining trust across all the stakeholders, including customers, the bank is giving paramount importance to cyber security.
Whatever transactions customers are doing, the bank ensures it is safe and secured, he said, adding that the bank has initiated many steps on the cyber security side to give confidence to customers.
With these initiatives, Kumar said, "I am fully confident that in the coming years, the Central Bank of India is going to play a very important role in the Indian economy."
He further said the Central Bank of India plans to open 150 branches across the country and also increase its headcount by about 1,400 during the ongoing fiscal to meet its growth target. The bank currently has 4,585 branches across all 28 states and six of the seven Union Territories.
About 65 per cent of the bank's branches are in rural and semi-urban areas of the country. Speaking on human resources augmentation, Kumar said, human asset is the most important driver of business and the bank is going to add a good number of officers and employees to achieve the targets.
Follow PSU Watch on LinkedIN
The Mumbai-based lender has total staff strength of about 34,000. Of this, 21,000 are officers and the remaining employees are in the clerical cadre.
Talking about plans for the current financial year, he said the bank intends to hire about 1,000 Probationary Officers, 300 marketing officers, 50 forex officers and 15 AGM level officers in the area of risk management, forex and treasury.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)