New Delhi, Oct. 19 -- State-owned Indian Bank has increased its loan and deposit growth targets for fiscal year 2027 (FY27) after reporting strong business growth in the first half of the year, managing director and chief executive officer Binod Kumar said in an interview with Mint on Sunday. The bank also expects to recover more money from bad loans than initially targeted, and open 100 branches this financial year, with a focus on western and central India. "The bank has raised its deposit growth guidance to 11-12% from 9-11% earlier, while its advance growth guidance has been increased to 13-14% from 11-13%," Kumar said. The revised outlook comes as the bank reported a 12.5% year-on-year increase in deposits to Rs.8.74 lakh crore and a 16.39% year-on-year increase in advances to Rs.7.22 lakh crore as of 30 September, according to its Q2 FY27 investor presentation. Its total business rose 14.22% to Rs.15.96 lakh crore. The lender's net profit increased 14.71% year-on-year to Rs.3,462 crore in the September quarter, while net interest income rose 17.83% to Rs.7,719 crore. Operating profit grew 46.58% to Rs.7,090 crore. Kumar said the bank expects demand across retail lending to remain healthy, despite changes in interest rates. Retail advances grew 17.37% year-on-year to Rs.1.53 trillion, agriculture advances rose 17.18% to Rs.1.71 lakh crore, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) lending expanded 19.06% to Rs.1.18 lakh crore. The bank expects agriculture growth to remain at a similar level and has not seen a significant rise in stress in the segment, Kumar said. Its special mention accounts book has declined, while stress in the MSME portfolio has also eased, he added. The bank's reported asset quality improved during the quarter. Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) declined to 1.61% of advances as of 30 September, from 2.60% a year earlier, while net NPAs fell to 0.14% from 0.16%, according to the investor presentation. On provisioning, Kumar said the bank's expected credit loss (ECL) provisioning requirement would be around Rs.3,500 crore. It had already made provisions of Rs.1,000 crore in the previous quarter and Rs.1,500 crore in the September quarter, taking the total to Rs.2,500 crore....