RAM and infrastructure lending to drive growth as Indian Bank targets 95% digital transactions, says MD Binod Kumar

Chennai (Tamil Nadu),[India], April 29 (ANI): Indian Bank will continue to focus on Retail, Agriculture and MSME (RAM) alongside infrastructure lending as key growth drivers, while scaling up digital adoption to reach 95% of transactions, said Binod Kumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank.

"RAM will remain our focus area because RAM is still, believe, this country, you see total debt to GDP of the country is still at lower level as compared to the developed nation," Kumar said, outlining the bank's forward-looking strategy. He added that as a responsible organisation, Indian Bank will also participate in the country's growth through infrastructure lending. "It is our duty to participate in the country growth and that's why we will be participating in infra lending also. So that will be our focus area."

The bank closed FY26 on a strong note, with total business growing 12.79 per cent, supported by deposit growth of 12.29 per cent and advances growth of 13.43 per cent. Kumar highlighted two key achievements: the bank's ability to maintain CASA around 40 per cent despite challenges, and robust growth in the RAM segment. "After a dip in June, we made course correction and it has increased sequentially in September also, December also and March also," he said.

The RAM sector registered growth of 15.18 per cent, driven primarily by retail at 18.72 per cent and MSME at 16.39 per cent. During the year, the bank sanctioned 6 lakh MSME loans amounting to Rs 48,000 crore, underscoring its push to support small businesses.

On the technology front, Kumar said Indian Bank has undertaken several IT initiatives with an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore and is increasingly using AI products to improve efficiency and customer experience. "My total digital transaction is 94%. It has gone up from 92% to 94%. And my ultimate target is go up to 95%," he said. The bank's total digital resource business currently stands at around 15 per cent, and it aims to take it up to 50 per cent through focused onboarding of customers on digital channels. "We are seeing good traction in that," he added.

Kumar said the bank's emphasis on digital transformation is part of a broader strategy to strengthen operational resilience while expanding credit outreach. With India's debt-to-GDP ratio still lower than developed economies, he believes there is significant room for credit growth, particularly in retail and MSME segments, while infrastructure lending will complement the bank's role in supporting national development. (ANI)

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