‘We may lend to a telco if it gets AAA rating’

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has said it would consider lending to a telecom company only if it gets AAA rating. PNB Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ATUL KUMAR GOEL said this in an online interview to Harsh Kumar while responding to a question on Vodafone Idea’s request for a fundraise. As of now, PNB has refused lending to the telco, Goel said. Edited excerpts:

- ATUL KUMAR GOEL

What kind of effort is PNB making to increase deposits?

There are not many challenges in deposit growth for Punjab National Bank as we have more than 10,000 branches and have added almost 6 million customers in the first part of this financial year. As we open accounts, money will come into them. Additionally, the PNB One app is helping us increase account openings by making the process very easy.

Currently, raising bulk deposits would be costly for us, so we are avoiding that. We have also specifically launched an app targeting our corporate users, which is helping us gain more current accounts. Within a month, we have opened almost 19,000 accounts through it.

Have Vi and MTNL approached you for fresh lending? Will PNB lend to them?