Gautam E Thakur, Chairman, Saraswat Co-operative Bank
Saraswat Co-operative Bank has chartered out an ambitious growth plan to double its total business (deposits plus advances) to ₹2 lakh crore and become a pan-India bank within the next six years.Total business of the Mumbai-headquartered bank, which is India’s largest urban co-operative bank (UCB), crossed the ₹1 lakh crore milestone to touch ₹1,06,625 crore as at March-end 2026.Gautam E Thakur, Chairman of the 108-year old Bank, said: “Crossing the ₹1 lakh crore total business milestone has been a long-cherished dream for us. Historically, urban cooperative banks have been viewed as relatively small institutions, but we wanted to demonstrate that a cooperative bank can also achieve scale.“We not only reached the milestone but exceeded it, ending the year (FY26) with total business of around ₹1.06 lakh crore. Today, our business has already grown to around ₹1.09 lakh crore.”Importantly, this growth has been accompanied by strong asset quality, with gross NPA (non-performing assets) declining to around 1.8 per cent of gross advances (from 2.25 per cent as on 31st March, 2025). Net NPAs have been at ‘nil’ level in the last four years.Community credit societyThakur noted that about two decades ago, Saraswat Co-operative Bank (SCB), which began as a community credit society more than a century ago (1918), later became an urban co-operative bank (in 1933), had a business size of roughly ₹4,000 crore.“Today, we operate in 11 states and one Union Territory with around 328 branches. Over the last 20 years, we have grown into a modern financial institution competing successfully with commercial banks.“Our objective is to become a pan-India bank within the next six years. We plan to enter states such as Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, beginning with major cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, before expanding deeper into those markets,” he said.Saraswat Co-operative Bank’s Chairman emphasised that doubling of total business will be driven entirely through organic growth.“Last year alone, our business grew by around 16 per cent. Even if we grow at 10-12 per cent annually, the ₹2 lakh crore milestone is comfortably achievable within six years. During this period, we will continue investing in technology, people, systems and processes,” he said.Rare achievementThakur highlighted that despite the Bank’s core equity capital being only around ₹325 crore, it has built a balance sheet exceeding ₹1 lakh crore, a rare achievement in Indian banking.“Much of our capital has been generated through retained earnings, with our own funds now exceeding ₹5,500 crore. We also raise capital through Long-Term Subordinated Bonds (LTSBs),” he said.Further, the Bank is awaiting various approvals to issue Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Shares (PNCPS), through which it expects to raise around ₹400-500 crore.Published on July 23, 2026
