1. We have audited the accompanying StandaloneFinancial Statements of Central Bank Of India (‘theBank'), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at 31stMarch 2025, the Profit and Loss Account and the CashFlows Statement for the year then ended, and Notes toStandalone Financial Statements including a summaryof significant accounting policies and other explanatoryinformation in which are included the returns for the yearended on that date of the Head Office, 13 Zones and
i. Top 20 Branches, 1 Specialized Integrated TreasuryBranch and other Central Office Departmentsaudited by us
ii. 1549 branches and other offices audited byrespective Statutory Branch Auditors.
The branches audited by us and those audited by otherauditors have been selected by the Bank in accordancewith the guidelines issued to the Bank by the ReserveBank of India. Also incorporated in the Balance Sheet,the Profit and Loss Account and the Cash FlowsStatement are the returns from 2976 branches whichhave not been subjected to audit. These unauditedbranches account for 24.22 per cent of advances, 43.27per cent of deposits, 18.15 per cent of interest incomeand 38.16 per cent of interest expenses.
2. In our opinion and to the best of our informationand according to the explanations given to us, theaforesaid Standalone Financial Statements give theinformation required by the Banking Regulation Act,1949 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) in the mannerso required for the Bank and are in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in India and:
a) the Balance Sheet, read with the notes thereonis a full and fair Balance Sheet containing all thenecessary particulars, is properly drawn up so as toexhibit a true and fair view of the state of affairs ofthe Bank as at 31st March, 2025;
b) the Profit and Loss Account, read with the notesthereon shows a true balance of profit for the yearended on that date; and
c) the Cash Flow Statement gives a true and fair viewof the cash flows for the year ended on that date.
3. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standardson Auditing (“SAs”) issued by the Institute of CharteredAccountants of India (“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 independentof the Bank in accordance with the Code of Ethicsissued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Indiatogether with ethical requirements that are relevantto our audit of the Standalone Financial Statements,prepared in accordance with the accounting principlesgenerally accepted in India, including the applicableAccounting Standards issued by the ICAI, and provisionsof section 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 andcirculars and guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank ofIndia (“RBI”) from time to time and we have fulfilled ourother ethical responsibilities in accordance with theserequirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe thatthe audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient andappropriate to provide a basis for our opinion on theStandalone Financial Statements.
4. We draw attention to:
Refer Schedule 18 - Note no. 15 (h)(iii) of the Statementregarding deferred tax, wherein on the basis of tax
review made by the Bank's management with respectto the possible tax benefits arising out of the timingdifference, the net deferred tax asset of '3,145.57 croreis recognised as on 31st March 2025 ('4,294.57 croreas on 31st March 2024).
Our opinion is not modified in respect of this matter.
5. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our
professional judgment, were of most significance inour audit of the Standalone Financial Statements forthe year ended 31st March 2025. These matters wereaddressed in the context of our audit of the StandaloneFinancial Statements as a whole, and in forming ouropinion thereon, and we do not provide a separateopinion on these matters. We have determined thematters described below to be the key audit matters tobe communicated in our report.
Key Audit Matters
How the matter was addressed in our Audit
1. Identification and provisioning of non-performing
Our audit approach included assessment of the
advances made in accordance with the prudential
design, operating effectiveness of key internal controls
norms prescribed by Reserve Bank of India on Income
over approval, recording and monitoring of loans and
recognition, Asset Classification and provisioning
substantive audit procedures in respect of income
pertaining to Advances (refer Schedule 9 read with Note
recognition, asset classification and provisioning
3 of Schedule 17 to the Standalone Financial Statements)
pertaining to advances.
Advances comprise substantial portion of the Bank's
In particular:
total assets. Identification of non-performing advances
• We have evaluated and understood the Bank's
(NPAs) is carried out, based on system identification, by
internal control system in adhering to the relevant
the Core Banking Solution (CBS) software in operation
RBI guidelines regarding income recognition, asset
based on the various controls and logic embedded
classification and provisioning pertaining to advances.
therein.
• We assessed and evaluated the process of
Provisions in respect of such NPAs and restructured
identification of NPAs, and corresponding reversal of
advances are made based on management's assessment
income and creation of provision.
of the degree of impairment of the advances subject to
• We have analyzed and understood key IT systems/
and guided by the minimum provisioning levels prescribed
applications used operational effectiveness of
under RBI guidelines, prescribed from time to time. The
relevant controls including involvement of manual
provisions on NPAs are also based on the valuation of
process and manual controls in relation to income
the security available. In case of restructured accounts,
provision is made in accordance with the RBI guidelines.
We identified NPA identification and provision on
In order to ensure the effectiveness of the operation of
loans and advances as a key audit matter because of
the key controls and compliance to the directions of the
the significant efforts involved by the management in
RBI, we have verified whether both CBS system and
identifying NPAs based on the RBI Guidelines, the level
the management have:
of management judgement involved in determining the
• timely recognized the depletion in the value of
provision (including the provisions on assets which arenot classified as NPAs), the valuation of security of
available security.
the NPAs and on account of the significance of these
• made adequate provisioning based on such time-
estimates to the Standalone Financial Statements of the
to-time monitoring and identification of asset
Bank. In the event of any improper application of the
classification including accounts which meet the
prudential norms or consideration of incorrect value of
criteria for asset classification benefit in accordance
security, the carrying value of the advances could be
with the Reserve Bank of India COVID-19 Regulatory
materially misstated either individually or collectively.
Package.
• We have reviewed on test check basis the reportsof the Concurrent Audits, Internal Inspections,Regulatory audits, Revenue Audits etc. to ascertainwhether the advances are having any shortcomingsor adverse features, requiring additional auditprocedures.
• We placed reliance upon the Independent Auditor'sReport of the respective Branch Auditors withrespect to income recognition, asset classificationand provisioning as well as Memorandum of changessuggested both at the branches and at Head Office.
2. Investments
Our audit approach towards Investments with reference
Investment portfolio of the Bank comprises of investments
to the RBI circulars/ directives included the review and
in government securities, bonds, debentures, shares,
testing of the design, operating effectiveness of internal
security receipts and other approved securities which
controls and substantive audit procedures in relation to
are classified under three categories, Held to Maturity,
valuation, classification, identification of Non-Performing
Available for Sale and Fair Value through Profit and Loss.
Investments, provisioning/ depreciation related to
Investments comprise a substantial portion of the Bank's
Investments. In particular:
total assets.
• We assessed and understood the system and
Valuation of Investments, identification of Non-Performing
internal control as laid down by the Bank to comply
Investments (NPI) and the corresponding non-
with relevant RBI guidelines regarding valuation,
recognition of income and provision thereon, is carried
classification, identification of Non- Performing
out in accordance with the relevant circulars / guidelines
Investments, Provisioning and depreciation on
/ directions of RBI. (refer Schedule 8 read with Note 5 of
Investments.
Schedule 17 to the Standalone Financial Statements).
• Tested accuracy and compliance for selected
The valuation of each type of aforesaid security is to
sample of investments with the RBI Master circulars
be carried out as per the methodology prescribed in
and directions by re-performing valuation for each
the circulars and directives issued by the RBI which
category of security in accordance with the RBI
involves collection of data/ information from various
guidelines.
sources such as FBIL rates, rates quoted on BSE/ NSE,
financial statements of unlisted companies, NAV in case
identification of NPIs, and corresponding reversal of
of security receipts etc.
As per the RBI directions, there are certain investments
• We carried out substantive audit procedures to re-
that are valued at market price however certain
compute independently the provision to be created
investments are based on the valuation methodologiesthat include statistical models with inherent assumptions,
and depreciation to be provided.
assessment of price for valuation based on financial
• We assessed that the standalone financial statement
statements etc. The price discovered for the valuation
disclosures appropriately reflected the Bank's
of these Investments is only a fair assessment of the
exposure to investments valuation risks with reference
Hence, the valuation of Investments requires specialattention and further in view of the significance of theamount of Investments in the financial statements, thesame has been considered as Key Audit Matter in ouraudit.
to the requirements of the prevailing accountingstandards and the RBI guidelines.
3. Information technology (IT) systems used in financialreporting process
. The Bank's operational and financial reporting processesare dependent on IT systems run through Core BankingSolutions (CBS) and other integrated software withautomated processes and controls large volume oftransactions.
We conducted an assessment and identified key ITapplications, database and operating systems that arerelevant to our audit and have identified CBS and TreasurySystem primarily as relevant for financial reporting. Forthe key IT systems pertaining to CBS and treasuryoperations used to prepare accounting and financialinformation, our areas of audit focus included AccessSecurity (including controls over privileged access),
. The process and controls are to ensure appropriate user
application change controls, database management
access and management processes in use.
and network operations. In particular:
. The Bank has an in-house Department of Information &technology (DIT) run under the supervision of the topmanagement and with the support of expert consultingagencies, for maintaining IT services.
• We obtained an understanding of the Bank's IT controlenvironment and key changes during the audit periodthat may be relevant to the audit.
. Accordingly, our audit was focused on key IT systems andcontrols due to the pervasive Impact on the StandaloneFinancial Statements and the same has been consideredas Key Audit Matter in our audit.
• We tested the design, implementation andoperating effectiveness of the Bank's General ITcontrols over the key IT systems that are critical tofinancial reporting including obtaining reports fromindependent experts. This included evaluation of
Bank's controls to evaluate segregation of duties andaccess rights being provisioned / modified based onduly approved requests, access for exit cases beingrevoked in a timely manner.
• We also tested key automated and manual business
cycle controls and logic for system generated reportsrelevant to the audit; including testing of compensatingcontrols or performed alternate procedures to assesswhether there were any unaddressed IT risks thatwould materially impact the Standalone FinancialStatements, information other than the standaloneFinancial Statements and Auditors' Report thereon.
4. Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Claims:
We have obtained an understanding of Internal Controls
Assessment of Provisions and Contingent Liability inrespect of certain litigations on various claims filed by
relevant to the audit in order to design our auditprocedures that are appropriate in the circumstances.
other parties not acknowledged as debt (Note No. 14 ofSchedule 17 and Note No. 15(l)(i) of Schedule 18).
We broadly reviewed the underlying assumptions andestimates used by the management for provisioning
There is high level of judgement required in estimating
but as the extent of impact is dependent on future
the level of provisioning. The Bank's assessment is
developments which are highly uncertain, we primarily
supported by the facts of matter, their own judgement,
relied on those assumptions and estimates, which are
past experience, and advice from legal and independentexperts wherever considered necessary. Accordingly,
subject matter of periodic review by the Bank.
unexpected adverse outcomes may significantly impact
We have relied upon the management note and legal
the Bank's reported profit and state of affairs presented
opinions obtained by the bank regarding the claims and
in Balance Sheet.
tax litigations and involved our internal team to review
Contingent Liability is a possible obligation, outcome ofwhich is contingent upon occurrence or non-occurrenceof one or more uncertain future events. In the judgementof the management, such claims and litigations includingtax demands against the bank would not eventually leadto a liability.
the nature of such litigations and claims, their currentstatus, sustainability, examining recent orders and/orcommunication received from various tax authorities/judicial forums and follow up actions thereon andlikelihood of claims/litigations materializing into eventualliability upon final resolution, from the available recordsand developments to date.
However, unexpected adverse outcomes maysignificantly impact the Bank's reported financial resultswhich is uncertain/ unascertainable at this stage.
Considering the uncertainty relating to the outcome ofthese matters which requires application of judgment ininterpretation of law, this has been determined as a keyAudit Matter.
6. The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible for theOther Information. The Other Information comprises theCorporate Governance Report, the Directors' Reportincluding annexures, Dividend Distribution Policy ofBank, Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report,Management Discussion and Analysis, Key Financialindicators and other Shareholder information, but doesnot include the Standalone Financial Statements and ourauditor's report thereon. The above Other Information isexpected to be made available to us after the date of thisaudit report.
Our opinion on the Standalone Financial Statementsdoes not cover the Other Information and the Pillar 3disclosures under Capital Adequacy Framework (BaselIII disclosures) and we do not and will not express anyform of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the Standalone FinancialStatements, our responsibility is to read the OtherInformation identified above and, in doing so, considerwhether the Other Information is materially inconsistentwith the Standalone Financial Statements, or ourknowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears tobe materially misstated.
When we read the Other Information, if we concludethat there is material misstatement therein, we arerequired to communicate the matter to Those ChargedWith Governance (TCWG) and take appropriate actionsnecessitated by the circumstances and as per theapplicable laws and regulations.
7. The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible withrespect to the preparation of these Standalone Financial
Statements that give a true and fair view of the financialposition, financial performance and cash flows of the Bankin accordance with the accounting principles generallyaccepted in India, including the applicable AccountingStandards, and provisions of Section 29 of the BankingRegulation Act, 1949 and circulars and guidelines issuedby the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI') from time to time(“RBI guidelines”) and judicial pronouncements. Thisresponsibility also includes maintenance of adequateaccounting records in accordance with the provisions ofthe Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Bank and forpreventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities;selection and application of appropriate accountingpolicies; making judgments and estimates that arereasonable and prudent; and design, implementationand maintenance of adequate internal financial controls,that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracyand completeness of the accounting records, relevantto the preparation and presentation of the StandaloneFinancial Statements that give a true and fair view andare free from material misstatement, whether due tofraud or error.
In preparing the Standalone Financial Statements,management is responsible for assessing the Bank'sability to continue as a going concern, disclosing,as applicable, matters related to going concern andusing the going concern basis of accounting unlessmanagement either intends to liquidate the Bank or tocease operations, or has no realistic alternative but todo so.
The Board of Directors is also responsible for overseeingthe Bank's financial reporting process.
8. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assuranceabout whether the Standalone Financial Statements asa whole are free from material misstatement, whetherdue to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors' report thatincludes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a highlevel of assurance but is not a guarantee that an auditconducted in accordance with SAs will always detect amaterial misstatement when it exists. Misstatements canarise from fraud or error and are considered materialif, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonablybe expected to influence the economic decisions ofusers taken on the basis of these Standalone FinancialStatements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exerciseprofessional judgment and maintain professionalskepticism throughout the audit. We also:
Identify and assess the risks of material misstatementof the Standalone Financial Statements, whether dueto fraud or error, design and perform audit proceduresresponsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence thatis sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for ouropinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatementresulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting fromerror, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentionalomissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internalcontrol.
Obtain an understanding of internal control relevantto the audit in order to design audit procedures thatare appropriate in the circumstances. We are alsoresponsible for expressing our opinion on whether theBank has adequate Internal Financial Controls withreference to financial statements in place and theoperating effectiveness of such controls.
Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policiesused and the reasonableness of accounting estimatesand related disclosures made by management.
Conclude on the appropriateness of management's useof the going concern basis of accounting and, basedon the audit evidence obtained, whether a materialuncertainty exists related to events or conditions that maycast significant doubt on the Bank's ability to continueas a going concern. If we conclude that a materialuncertainty exists, we are required to draw attentionin our auditor's report to the related disclosures in theStandalone Financial Statements or, if such disclosuresare inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusionsare based on the audit evidence obtained up to thedate of our auditor's report. However, future events orconditions may cause the Bank to cease to continue asa going concern.
Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and contentof the Standalone financial statements, including thedisclosures, and whether the Standalone financialstatements represent the underlying transactions andevents in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
Materiality is the magnitude of the misstatements inthe Standalone Financial Statements that, individuallyor aggregate, makes it probable that the economicdecisions of a reasonably knowledgeable user of the
Standalone Financial Statements may be influenced. Weconsider quantitative materiality and qualitative factorsin (i) planning of the scope of our audit work and inevaluating the results of our work; and (ii) to evaluate theeffect of any identified misstatement in the StandaloneFinancial Statements.
We communicate with those charge with governanceregarding, among other matters, the planned scopeand timing of the audit and significant audit findings,including any significant deficiencies in internal controlthat we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governancewith a statement that we have complied with relevantethical requirements regarding independence, andto communicate with them all relationships and othermatters that may reasonably be thought to bear onour independence, and where applicable, relatedsafeguards.
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 thekey audit matters.
We describe these matters in our auditors' report unlesslaw or regulation precludes public disclosure about thematter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, wedetermine that a matter should not be communicated inour report because the adverse consequences of doingso would reasonably be expected to outweigh the publicinterest benefits of such communication.
9. We did not audit the financial statements/ informationof 1549 branches and other offices included in theStandalone Financial Statements of the Bank whosefinancial statements / financial information reflect totalassets of '2,40,864.28 crore as at 31st March 2025 andtotal revenue of '9,532.38 crore for the year ended onthat date, as considered in the Standalone FinancialStatements. These branches cover 34.73 per cent ofadvances, 52.10 per cent of deposits and 21.71 percent of non-performing assets as at 31st March 2025and 24.12 per cent of revenue for the year ended onthat date. The financial statements/ information of thesebranches have been audited by the statutory branchauditors whose reports have been furnished to us, andour opinion in so far as it relates to the amounts anddisclosures included in respect of branches, is basedsolely on the report of such statutory branch auditors.
10. In the conduct of our audit, we have taken note ofthe unaudited returns in respect of 2976 branchescertified by the respective branch's management whosefinancial statements/ information reflect total assets of'1,85,324.53 crore as at 31st March 2025 and totalrevenue of '7,705.53 crore for the year ended on thatdate. These unaudited branches cover 24.22 per centof advances, 43.27 per cent of deposits and 15.30 percent of non-performing assets as on 31st March 2025and 19.50 per cent of revenue for the year then ended.
Our opinion is not modified in respect of the abovematters.
11. The Balance sheet and the Profit and Loss Accounthave been drawn up in accordance with Section 29 ofthe Banking Regulation Act, 1949;
12. Subject to the limitations of the audit indicated inparagraphs 6 to 10 above and as required by the BankingCompanies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings)Act, 1970/1980, and subject also to the limitations ofdisclosure required therein, we report that:
a) We have obtained all the information andexplanations which, to the best of our knowledgeand belief, were necessary for the purposes of ouraudit and have found them to be satisfactory.
b) The transactions of the Bank, which have cometo our notice, have been within the powers of theBank; and
c) The returns received from the offices and branchesof the Bank have been found adequate for thepurposes of our audit.
13. As required by letter No. DOS.ARG.No.
6270/08.91.001/2019-20 dated March 17, 2020 on“Appointment of Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs) inPublic Sector Banks - Reporting obligations for SCAsfrom FY 2019-20”, read with subsequent communicationdated May 19, 2020 issued by the RBI, we further reporton the matters specified in paragraph 2 of the aforesaidletter as under:
a) In our opinion, the aforesaid Standalone FinancialStatements comply with the applicable AccountingStandards issued by ICAI, to the extent they are notinconsistent with the accounting policies prescribedby RBI.
b) There are no observations or comments on financialtransactions or matters which have any adverseeffect on the functioning of the Bank.
c) As the Bank is not registered under the CompaniesAct, 2013 the disqualifications from being a directorof the bank under sub-section (2) of Section 164 ofthe Companies Act, 2013 do not apply to the bank.
d) There are no qualifications, reservations or adverseremarks relating to the maintenance of accountsand other 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 RBILetter No. DOS. ARG. No. 6270/ 08.91.001/2019-20 dated March 17, 2020 (as amended) is given inAnnexure A to this report. Our report expresses anunmodified opinion on the Bank's internal financialcontrols over financial reporting with referenceto the Standalone Financial Statements as at31st March 2025.
14. We further report that:
a) In our opinion, proper books of account as requiredby law have been kept by the Bank so far as itappears from our examination of those books andproper returns adequate for the purposes of ouraudit have been received from branches not visitedby us.
b) the Balance Sheet, the Profit and Loss Account andthe Cash Flow Statement dealt with by this reportare in agreement with the books of account andwith the returns received from the branches notvisited by us.
c) the reports on the accounts of the branch officesaudited by branch auditors of the Bank undersection 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949have been sent to us and have been properly dealtwith by us in preparing this report; and
d) In our opinion, the Balance Sheet, the Profit andLoss Account and the Cash Flow Statement complywith the applicable accounting standards, to theextent they are not inconsistent with the accountingpolicies prescribed by RBI.
For A.R. & CO. For A D B & COMPANY For AMIT RAY & CO.
Chartered Accountants Chartered Accountants Chartered Accountants
FR. No. 002744C FR. No. 005593C FR. No. 000483C
(CA ANIL GAUR) (CA SHIKHAR CHAND JAIN) (CA JITENDRA PANDEY)
PARTNER PARTNER PARTNER
M. No. 17546 M. No. 074411 M. No. 177655
UDIN 25017546BMGYSV4771 UDIN 25074411BMTDAW2253 UDIN 25177655BMMHCV6685
For JAIN PARAS BILALA & CO.
Chartered AccountantsF.R. No. 011046C
(CA PARAS BILALA)
PARTNER
Place: Mumbai M. No. 400917
Date: April 28, 2025 UDIN 25400917BMIFJY8274