‘US tariff have had no material impact’

KALYAN KUMAR, MD & CEO, CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA

- Christina Titus and Mahesh Nayak

In less than two and a half months since taking charge as Managing Director & CEO of Central Bank of India, Kalyan Kumar has undertaken an extensive outreach programme across over 100 centres focused on retail, agriculture, and MSME (RAM) segments. In a conversation with

Kumar says corporate loan demand has also picked up, with a sanctioned pipeline of ₹85,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore. Excerpts:

It has been a few months since you took charge at the Central Bank of India. What are the initiatives you have taken so far?

We organised credit outreach programmes across more than 100 centres for retail, agriculture, and MSME sectors in separate weeks, generating strong business leads and growth in these areas. While books remain dominant and preferred, we aim to balance them with retail, agriculture, and MSME segments. We have opened nearly 84,000-85,000 bank accounts through just one programme. Going forward, our primary focus will be on agriculture and MSMEs. We have identified active clusters and 250 branches each for agriculture and MSMEs, and developed cluster-specific products. In agriculture, our focus is mainly on self-help groups.