1. We have audited the accompanying Standalone FinancialStatements of Bank of India (‘the Bank'), which comprisethe Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2025, the Profit andLoss Account and the Cash Flow Statement for the yearthen ended, and notes to Standalone Financial Statementsincluding Significant Accounting Policies and otherexplanatory information in which are included returns for theyear ended on that date of:
(i) 20 Domestic branches, Treasury Branch and 14 otheroffices (Head-office and 13 FGMO Offices) audited byus;
(ii) 1843 domestic branches and processing centresaudited by respective Statutory Branch Auditors and
(iii) 22 Foreign branches audited by respective localAuditors.
The branches audited by us and those audited by otherauditors have been selected by the Bank in accordance withthe guidelines issued to the Bank by the Reserve Bank ofIndia. Also included in the Balance Sheet, the Profit and LossAccount and Cash Flow Statement are the returns from 4328domestic branches and Nil foreign branch which have notbeen subjected to audit. These unaudited branches accountfor 15.92 % of advances, 33.54 % of deposits, 12.07% ofinterest income and 27.10 % of interest expenses.
In our opinion and to the best of our information and accordingto the explanations given to us, the aforesaid StandaloneFinancial Statements give the information required by theBanking Regulation Act, 1949 in the manner so required forthe bank and are in conformity with accounting principlesgenerally accepted in India and:
a) the Balance Sheet, read with the notes thereon is a fulland fair Balance Sheet containing all the necessaryparticulars, is properly drawn up so as to exhibit a trueand fair view of the state of affairs of the Bank as atMarch 31,2025;
b) the Profit and Loss Account, read with the notesthereon shows a true balance of profit; and
c) the Cash Flow Statement gives a true and fair view ofthe cash flows for the year ended on that date.
2. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standardson Auditing (SAs) issued by the Institute of CharteredAccountants of India (the “ICAI”). Our responsibilities underthose Standards are further described in the Auditor'sResponsibilities for the Audit of the Standalone FinancialStatements section of our report. We are independent of theBank in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by theICAI together with ethical requirements that are relevant toour audit of the financial statements prepared in accordancewith the accounting principles generally accepted in India,including the ICAI Accounting Standards, as amended fromtime to time subject to Directions/Guidelines issued by theReserve Bank of India, and provisions of section 29 of theBanking Regulation Act, 1949 and circulars and guidelinesissued by the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI”) from time totime and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities inaccordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics.We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained issufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion..
3. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professionaljudgment, were of most significance in our audit of theStandalone Financial Statements for the year ended March31, 2025. These matters were addressed in the contextof our audit of the financial statements as a whole, andin forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide aseparate opinion on these matters. We have determined thematters described below to be the Key Audit Matters to becommunicated in our report.
Sr
Key Audit Matters
Audit Procedure followed to address the Key Audit Matters
1
Compliance of Income Recognition, Asset Classification and
We have carried out the audit of the advances and investments
based on the IRAC Norms/Circulars and directives issued by
Reserve Bank of India and the policy of the Bank.
Advances: Our audit procedure included:
a) Understanding the IT system and controls put in placeand logic and validations built in the system by the bankfor identification, classification and provisioning in caseof advances.
b) Testing on sample basis whether the classificationof advances as performing or non-performing andprovisioning have been carried out as per the guidelinesof Reserve Bank of India.
c) Communication to the Statutory Branch Auditors (SBAs)to verify the compliance of IRAC Norms and proceduresand the policies adopted by the bank and reliance on theaudit reports furnished by the SBAs.
d) Carrying out substantive test on major advancesincluding Specially Mentioned Accounts (SMA) and alsoverification of security by checking the valuation reportsin respect of the audit of branches conducted by us.
e) Reliance on the internal audit reports, concurrent auditreports, credit audit, system audit and special auditsconducted by the bank.
Investments: Our audit procedure included:
a) Understanding the IT system and controls put in placeand logic and validations built in the system by the bankfor identification, classification and provisioning in caseof investments.
b) Testing on sample basis whether the classificationand valuation of investments is carried out as per theguidelines of Reserve Bank of India.
c) Verification on sample basis whether proper provisionfor depreciation in the value of investments is made asper RBI guidelines.
d) Reliance made on the internal audit reports, concurrentaudit reports and system audit conducted by the bank.
Provisioning Norms on advances and investments as Der guidelinesissued bv Reserve Bank of India (IRAC Norms)
Advances: Bank has to classify the accounts as Derforminaadvances or non-performing advances based on the guidelines/circulars and directives issued by Reserve Bank of India. Theguidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India is for all credit facilitiesgiven by the bank and is to be mandatorily followed for the purposeof Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning.
Identification of performing and non-performing advances is systemdriven. The software used by the bank identifies the accounts forclassification and provisioning as per the guidelines issued byReserve Bank of India.
The Income recognition, asset classification and provisioning if notdone properly as per the IRAC norms issued by Reserve Bank ofIndia may materially impact the financial statements of the bank.
The bank has implemented IRAC Automation software foridentification and classifying of NPA accounts through the software.
Investments: Bank has to classify the investments as performingor non-performing based on the guidelines/circulars and directivesissued by Reserve Bank of India.
Identification of performing and non-performing investments isgenerally system driven.
The valuation is done as per the guidelines issued by Reserve Bankof India and the valuations are done based on the price quoted onBSE/NSE, FIMDA /FBIL rates etc.
Advances and Investments constitute 62.31% and 24.85%respectively of total assets of the bank. As advances andinvestments form part of a major portion of the business of the bankand the regulatory compliances are involved, we have consideredthis aspect as Key Audit Matter.
2
Evaluation of uncertain tax litigations and contingent liabilities
The Bank has various litigations including Income-tax litigations,involving disputed claims against those litigations, which arepending at various courts / forums and are at various stages in thejudicial process. Bank has also disputes regarding availability ofinput credits / applicability of Reverse Charge Mechanism on certainpayments under Indirect Tax.
Our audit procedure included:
a) Understanding the current status of the litigations / taxassessments. Also obtained details of completed taxassessments and latest orders, communication receivedfrom various tax authorities and the appeals filed till theyear ended March 31,2025, from the management.
b) Evaluating the management's underlying assumptionsin estimating the tax provision and the possibleoutcome of the disputes. This includes consideringthe legal precedence and other rulings in evaluatingmanagement's position on these uncertain tax positions.
3
Assessment of Information Technology (IT):
a. IT controls with respect to recording of transactions, generatingvarious reports in compliance with RBI guidelines including IRACnorms, preparing financial statements and reporting of compliancesto regulators etc. is an important part of the process. Such reportingis highly dependent on the effective working of Core BankingSoftware and other allied systems.
We have considered this as key audit matter as any control lapses,validation failures, incorrect input data and wrong extraction ofdata may result in wrong reporting of data to the management andregulators.
a) Obtained an understanding of the Bank's IT controlenvironment and key changes during the audit periodthat may be relevant to the audit.
b) Reviewed the Reports of various IS Auditors /Consultants appointed by the Bank and discussedwith IT Department on compliance with key IT controls,including IRAC Automation Controls.
c) Reviewed the design, implementation and operatingeffectiveness of the Bank's IT controls includingapplication, access controls that are critical to financialreporting on test check basis.
d) Where we identified the need to perform additionalprocedures, we placed reliance on manual compensatingcontrols; such as reconciliations between systems andother information sources or performing additionaltesting; extended our sample sizes, to obtain adequateand appropriate audit evidence.
4. We did not audit the financial statements / financial informationof 1787 branches and processing centres including 22foreign branches included in the Standalone FinancialStatements of the Bank whose financial statements/financialinformation reflects total assets of Rs.234960.07 Crore atMarch 31, 2025 and total revenue of Rs.19251.13 Crore forthe year ended on that date as considered in the StandaloneFinancial Statements. These branches and processingcentres cover 31.67% of advances, 47.18% of deposits and30.13 % of Non-performing assets as on March 31, 2025and 24.84 % of revenue for the period April 1,2024 to March31, 2025.The Financial statements/financial information ofthese branches and processing centres have been auditedby the branch auditors whose reports have been furnished tous, and in our opinion, in so far as it relates to the amountsand disclosures included in respect of these branches andprocessing centres, are solely based on the report of suchbranch auditors.
In conduct of our audit, we have taken note of the unauditedreturns in respect of 4328 domestic branches and Nil foreignbranch certified by the respective branch's management.These unaudited branches cover 15.92 % of advances,33.54 % of deposits and 16.63% of non-performing assetsas on March 31,2025 and 12.74 % of revenue for the periodApril 1,2024 to March 31,2025.
The accompanying Standalone Financial Statementsincludes comparative figures for the year ended March 31,2024, which have been audited by an earlier set of fouraudit firms as joint auditors, who have expressed unmodified
opinion vide their audit report dated May 10, 2024, and threeof those four audit firms are continuing audit firms.
Our opinion is not modified in respect of these matters.
5. The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible for thepreparation of the Other Information. The other informationcomprises the information included in the Managementreport and Chairman's Statement (including annexures inthe Annual Report) but does not include the StandaloneFinancial Statements and our Auditor's report thereon, whichis expected to be made available for us after the date of thisAuditors' Report.
Our opinion on the Standalone Financial Statements doesnot cover the Other Information and Pillar 3 disclosuresunder Basel III Disclosure and we do not express any formof assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the Standalone FinancialStatements, our responsibility is to read the Other Informationidentified above and, in doing so, consider whether the OtherInformation is materially inconsistent with the StandaloneFinancial Statements. or our knowledge obtained in theaudit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
When we read the other information, if we conclude thatthere is material misstatement therein, we are required tocommunicate the matter to those charged with governanceand determine the actions under the applicable laws andregulations.
Governance for the Standalone Financial Statements
6. The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible with respectto the preparation of these Standalone Financial Statementsthat give a true and fair view of the financial position, financialperformance and cash flows of the Bank in accordancewith the accounting principles generally accepted in India,including the Accounting Standards issued by the ICAI, andprovisions of Section 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949and circulars and guidelines issued by the Reserve Bankof India (‘RBI') from time to time. This responsibility alsoincludes maintenance of adequate accounting records inaccordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguardingof the assets of the Bank and for preventing and detectingfrauds and other irregularities; selection and application ofappropriate accounting policies; making judgments andestimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design,implementation and maintenance of adequate internalfinancial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuringthe accuracy and completeness of the accounting records,relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financialstatements that give a true and fair view and are free frommaterial misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the Standalone Financial Statements, the Boardof Directors are responsible for assessing the Bank's abilityto continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable,matters related to going concern and using the going concernbasis of accounting unless management either intends toliquidate the Bank or to cease operations, or has no realisticalternative but to do so.
The Board of Directors is also responsible for overseeing theBank's financial reporting process.
Financial Statements
7. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance aboutwhether the Standalone Financial Statements as a wholeare free from material misstatement, whether due to fraudor error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes ouropinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurancebut is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordancewith SAs will always detect a material misstatement when itexists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and areconsidered material if, individually or in the aggregate, theycould reasonably be expected to influence the economicdecisions of users taken on the basis of these StandaloneFinancial Statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise
professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism
throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement ofthe financial statements, whether due to fraud or error,design and perform audit procedures responsive tothose risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficientand appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. Therisk of not detecting a material misstatement resultingfrom fraud is higher than for one resulting from error,as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentionalomissions, misrepresentations, or the override ofinternal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevantto the audit in order to design audit procedures thatare appropriate in the circumstances. As required bythe RBI letter DOS.ARG.No.6270/08.91.001/2019-20 dated March 17, 2020 (as amended), we are alsoresponsible for expressing our opinion on whetherthe Bank has adequate internal financial controls withreference to the Standalone Financial Statements inplace and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policiesused and the reasonableness of accounting estimatesand related disclosures made by the Board ofDirectors.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of the Board ofDirectors' use of the going concern basis of accountingand, based on the audit evidence obtained, whethera material uncertainty exists related to events orconditions that may cast significant doubt on theBank's ability to continue as a going concern. If weconclude that a material uncertainty exists, we arerequired to draw attention in our auditor's report tothe related disclosures in the Standalone FinancialStatements or, if such disclosures are inadequate,to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are basedon the audit evidence obtained up to the date of ourauditor's report. However, future events or conditionsmay cause the Bank to cease to continue as a goingconcern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure andcontent of the Standalone Financial Statements,including the disclosures, and whether the StandaloneFinancial Statements represent the underlyingtransactions and events in a manner that achieves fairpresentation.
Materiality is the magnitude of the misstatements in thefinancial statements that, individually or aggregate, makesit probable that the economic decisions of a reasonablyknowledgeable user of the financial statements maybe influenced. We consider quantitative materiality andqualitative factors in (i) planning of the scope of our auditwork and evaluating the results of our work; and (ii) toevaluate the effect of any identified misstatement in thefinancial statements.
We communicate with those charged with governanceregarding, among other matters, the planned scope andtiming of the audit and significant audit findings, includingany significant deficiencies in internal control that we identifyduring our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with astatement that we have complied with relevant ethicalrequirements regarding independence, and to communicatewith them all relationships and other matters that mayreasonably be thought to bear on our independence, andwhere applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged withgovernance, we determine those matters that were ofmost significance in the audit of the Standalone FinancialStatements of the current period and are therefore the keyaudit matters.
We describe these matters in our auditor's report unless lawor regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter orwhen, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that amatter should not be communicated in our report becausethe adverse consequences of doing so would reasonablybe expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of suchcommunication.
8. The Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Account havebeen drawn up in accordance with Section 29 of the BankingRegulation Act, 1949;
9. Subject to the limitations of the audit indicated in paragraphson Auditor's Responsibilities (para 7), ManagementResponsibilities (para 6) and Other matters (para 4) aboveand as required by the Banking Companies (Acquisition andTransfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980, and subject alsoto the limitations of disclosure required therein, we reportthat:
a) We have obtained all the information and explanationswhich, to the best of our knowledge and belief, werenecessary for the purposes of our audit and havefound them to be satisfactory;
b) The transactions of the Bank, which have come to ournotice, have been within the powers of the Bank; and
c) The returns received from the offices and branches ofthe Bank have been found adequate for the purposesof our audit.
10. As required by letter No. DOS.ARG.No.6270/08.91.001/2019-20 dated March 17, 2020 on “Appointment of StatutoryCentral Auditors (SCAs) in Public Sector Banks-Reportingobligations for SCAs from FY: 2019-20”, read with subsequentcommunication dated May 19, 2020 issued by the RBI, wefurther report on the matters specified in paragraph 2 of theaforesaid letter as under:
a) In our opinion, the aforesaid Standalone FinancialStatements comply with the Accounting Standardsissued by ICAI, to the extent they are not inconsistentwith the accounting policies prescribed by the RBI.
b) There are no observations or comments on financialtransactions or matters which have any adverse effecton the functioning of the bank.
c) As the bank is not registered under the CompaniesAct, 2013 the disqualifications from being a director ofthe bank under sub-section (2) of Section 164 of theCompanies Act, 2013 do not apply to the bank.
d) There are no qualifications, reservations or adverseremarks relating to the maintenance of accounts andother matters connected therewith.
e) Our audit report on the adequacy and operatingeffectiveness of the Bank's internal financial controlsover financial reporting as required by the RBI LetterD0S.ARG.No.6270/08.91.001/2019-20 dated March17, 2020 (as amended) is given in Annexure A to thisreport. Our report expresses an unmodified opinionon the Bank's internal financial controls over financialreporting as at March 31,2025.
11. We further report that:
a) in our opinion, proper books of account as required bylaw have been kept by the Bank so far as it appearsfrom our examination of those books and properreturns adequate for the purposes of our audit havebeen received from branches and processing centresnot visited by us;
b) the Balance Sheet, the Profit and Loss Account andthe Cash Flow Statement dealt with by this report arein agreement with the books of account and with thereturns received from the branches and processingcentres not visited by us;
c) the reports on the accounts of the branch offices audited by branch auditors of the Bank under section 29 of the BankingRegulation Act, 1949 have been sent to us and have been properly dealt with by us in preparing this report; and
d) In our opinion, the Balance Sheet, the Profit and Loss Account and the Cash Flow Statement comply with the applicableaccounting standards, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the accounting policies prescribed by Reserve Bank of India.
For S. Jaykishan
For A. Bafna & Co.
Chartered Accountants
(FRN: 309005E)
(FRN: 003660C)
Nemai Gorai
Vivek Gupta
Partner // ICAI M. No. 057892
Partner // ICAI M. No. 400543
UDIN: 25057892BMHYOI5401
UDIN: 25400543BMLIFJ9974
For SCV & Co. LLP
For SARDA & PAREEK LLP
(FRN:000235N / N500089)
(FRN:109262W/W100673)
Ashish Agarwal
Giriraj Soni
Partner // ICAI M. No. 093790
Partner // ICAI M. No. 109738
UDIN: 25093790BMJKLV1520
UDIN: 25109738BMHWMY1247