PNB poised to touch landmark Rs 30 lakh crore total business by FY26 end: MD & CEO Chandra

New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) is well poised to touch the milestone of Rs 30 lakh crore total business by the end of the current financial year and the country’s second biggest lender has the right strategy in place to achieve it, the bank’s MD and CEO Ashok Chandra said.

Total business of PNB rose by 11.6 per cent to Rs 27.19 crore at the end of the first quarter of the current financial year. PNB is closely followed by Bank of Baroda with total business of Rs 26.43 lakh crore while Canara Bank at Rs 25.64 lakh crore at the end of June 30, 2025.

“We have a target of Rs 29.56 lakh crore for the current financial year. We may do better than our target and can touch Rs 30 lakh crore by March next year but let me add that we are very mindful that whatever the top line we are going to build, it should add profit to my bank,” he said.

Chandra emphasised that PNB is very conscious of the operating profit and even in the first quarter itself the bank has recorded the highest ever operating profit of Rs 7,081 crore.

“Whether it is deposit mobilisation or the corporate loan book, everything should add to the bottom line of the bank. So that is the reason now, bulk deposits have been brought down and the corporate deposits have curtailed to a great extent,” he said.

Sharing the strategy to achieve the goal, Chandra said, the bank targets minimum 11-12 per cent credit growth and 9-10 per cent deposit growth in FY26.

“We have a good pipeline of corporate loan book of Rs 1.29 lakh crore, which is in various stages of disbursement. There has been muted growth in the past, as there was a low-yielding advanced corporate loan book. We have shed that. Now, we are very mindful that whatever loan book we are going to build, it should make a good contribution to operating profit,” he said.

Chandra expressed confidence that there will be at least a double digit from Q2 onwards as far as the corporate loan segment is

concerned.

He also highlighted that the lender is very aggressive in corporate lending and has provided confidence to corporate borrowers that decisions will be taken within a time period of 15 days.