New Delhi, July 28 (KNN) In a bid to expand its base in the country and improve the flow of credit to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the private sector lender Bandhan bank recently announced its target of setting up over 200 new branches in the country by the end of the fiscal year.

At present, the bank has 840 branches and the company intends to have over 1000 branches by the end of 2017.

Also the bank announced that it will start to focus on non-micro loans for the next five years. At present the bank is engaged primarily in micro lending

The bank recently registered a hike in bad loans during the April-June term. Gross NPA in absolute terms increased to 175 crores from 86 crores.  Bandhan Bank’s MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh in a press interaction informed that the main reason for the rise in bad loans could be the farm loan waivers that were announced in different states including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Bank however observed an increase of its net profit from 242 crore of the previous year to 327 crores this June. (KNN/ DA)