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Informist, Monday, Apr. 27, 2026

By Priyasmita Dutta

NEW DELHI – Punjab National Bank is planning to list one of its eight regional rural banks in the September quarter, after the West Asia war delayed its original March schedule, a senior official at the bank said. "We were fairly confident that we would list one RRB (regional rural bank) by March; processes had begun keeping that schedule in mind, but the war changed the situation," the official told Informist.

"We are in constant touch with DFS (Department of Financial Services), and we are now going over some regulatory checks, keeping in mind the market conditions," the official said. Regional rural banks were established to develop the rural economy by providing accessible credit for agriculture, trade, commerce, industry and other productive activities in rural areas.

According to the official, there is no strict guidance to list the rural bank in the September quarter, but the bank expects market volatility to persist in the June quarter, making the September quarter a more opportune time. 

The bank's Executive Director M. Paramasivam had told Informist in an interview on Jan. 20 that the public sector bank was looking to list one of its regional rural banks on stock exchanges by March. The Delhi-based bank is the sponsor for eight regional rural banks. While Paramasivam had not disclosed which of the eight regional rural banks would be listed on stock exchanges, Informist had reported in December that the finance ministry had asked Haryana Gramin Bank, sponsored by PNB, to draw up plans for an initial public offering by the end of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar).

Haryana Gramin Bank had reported a net profit of INR 3.77 billion for FY25, with a capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio of 15.31%. The finance ministry had also asked Canara Bank-sponsored Kerala Gramin Bank and Tamil Nadu Grama Bank, backed by Indian Bank, to draw up plans for an initial public offering, Informist had reported earlier. These banks are also yet to hit the bourses. 

After the regional rural bank, PNB will look to list its other subsidiaries, the official also said. "That plan is also there, but everything will happen in an order that was originally planned...first the rural bank, then those will be considered," the official said.

In the same interview cited above, Paramaisvam had said that the large PSU bank was considering listing its other subsidiaries over the next one to two years. The bank has three subsidiaries in which it holds a majority stake--PNB Gilts Ltd., PNB Investment Services Ltd., and PNB Cards and Services Ltd. It also owns a considerable stake in PNB Housing Finance Ltd. and PNB MetLife India Insurance Co. Ltd.

PNB Gilts and PNB Housing are already listed, and the bank aims to list PNB Cards, PNB Investment Services, and PNB MetLife. It holds 30% stake in PNB MetLife and 100% each in PNB Cards and PNB Investment Services. In 2018, PNB MetLife had already received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering of 495 million shares. However, the bank did not go forward with the deal due to the market conditions then. 

According to the senior official in the bank, the Board of PNB may, in FY27, approve a fundraising plan "similar to FY26", although the bank does not see the need for capital as of now. "Our capital adequacy ratio is at a healthy level, so we don't need additional capital now, but may take board approval to avoid hassle later on," the official said. 

The bank's board had approved fund raising plan of INR 80 billion for FY26, but the lender did not raise any funds during the year. It had, however, raised INR 9.12 billion through the sale of 10% stake in Canara HSBC Life Insurance Co. Ltd. in the life insurer's initial public offering. In FY25, the bank had raised INR 50 billion in equity through a qualified institutional placement of shares and INR 30 billion by issuing tier-II bonds.

The Delhi-headquartered bank's capital adequacy ratio was 16.77% at the end of December, 136 basis points higher than a year ago. It had reported a net profit of INR 51 billion for the December quarter, up 13% on year. The lender's total income for the quarter had risen 7% on year to INR 372.53 billion. At 1326 IST, shares of the bank traded at INR 114 on the National Stock Exchange, up 0.8% from the previous close.  End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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