Bandhan Bank IPO to hit markets next fiscal

New Delhi: Private sector Bandhan Bank on Thursday said it is planning to come out with initial public offer (IPO) in the early part of the next fiscal.

"We have recently appointed five merchant bankers and the process of IPO has just started. We are not looking to go public this fiscal but may be next fiscal," Bandhan Bank Managing Director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said here. It should happen before August next year, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India's guidelines mandated the bank to get itself listed within three years from the commencement of banking operations. The bank started its operation in August 2015.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 26 per cent as on June 30. Meanwhile, he said, Bandhan-Konnagar, a not-for-profit organisation which is working in the sphere of women empowerment, needs support from various stakeholders, including corporates to uplift families out of debilitating poverty.

So far, the NGO has supported about 55,000 families across 9 states since its launch in 2001, Ghosh who is mentor and founder of the NGO said. Currently, only few corporates like ITC and Bandhan Bank contribute the NGO.

"For scaling up our effort, we would require more and more institutions to join our hand and help in the programme - Targeting the Hardcore Poor (THP)," he said.

He said few state governments like Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand have supported the programme.