Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 25 (ANI/BusinessWire India): HDFC Bank was recently bestowed with the prestigious ‘India’s Best Bank for SMEs’ Award at the Asiamoney Best Bank Awards 2021. The Annual Best Banks survey of the financial magazine based in Hong Kong, evaluates banks across a range of core banking activities and HDFC Bank emerged victorious in this category. In its evaluation, the magazine said on its website – “HDFC Bank’s transformation of its micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) business over the past few years makes it a worthy winner of this award.”
The survey considers detailed submissions from market participants and research into the banking and capital markets by the editorial committee. The team of senior journalists also visited each country or territory to meet leading bankers and gather client and competitor feedback.
“The numbers are impressive. Advances to MSMEs stood at Rs 2.02 trillion (USD 28 billion) as of December 31, 2020, up 38 per cent from a year earlier and representing a compound annual growth rate of 23% in the past six years, which HDFC says makes it India’s second-largest bank for MSME lending. The bank’s management also believes the MSME lending book will soon be larger than the bank’s corporate book,” writes Asiamoney.
“In its wholesale banking department, the MSME business became the second-largest revenue contributor last year. But the push towards SME clients – under Rahul Shukla, group head of corporate banking and business banking – has not come at the expense of quality. Asset quality has remained strong despite the impact of Covid-19 on businesses. The bank’s MSME-related non-performing asset (NPA) ratio was 0.7 per cent in December 2020, down from 1.33 per cent in March 2020 and 1.16 per cent in March 2019.”
“We are so delighted to be recognized for our work in the SME business and to have contributed to this important sector,” said Rahul Shukla, Group Head – Wholesale Banking, HDFC Bank. “SMEs are the engines of economic growth and partnering with them helps in overall prosperity of the nation. With our strong suite of products and which can be accessed conveniently we believe that we are well positioned to be their partner of choice.”
This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)