India's Syndicate Bank Ltd. plans to raise 5 billion rupees to 10 billion rupees in the quarter ending March 31, 2019, to bolster its capital adequacy ratio, The Times of India reported Dec. 19, citing the lender's Managing Director and CEO Mrutyunjay Mahapatra.

The state-run bank's capital adequacy ratio currently stands at around 11%, which meets central bank requirements. However, the lender could do with some growth capital, Mahapatra said.

Syndicate Bank plans to raise this through either a rights or Tier-1 bond issue, he said. The lender is now seeking to raise 4 billion rupees to 5 billion rupees through an employees' share purchase scheme, under which staff can purchase stock at a 20% to 25% discount.

Mahapatra added that the bank expects to recover 37 billion rupees to 38 billion rupees of nonperforming loans in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, which exceeds its recovery target of 30 billion rupees.

As of Dec. 18, US$1 was equivalent to 70.57 Indian rupees.