idbi bank has made a successful transformation from a staid development financial institution to a fullfledged commercial bank the financial conglomerate has emerged as one of the largest tax collectors for the government while business has been hit by the economic slowdown idbi bank cmd r m malla tells toi in an interview that he is spotting green shoots and rates will fall from next month excerptsdo you see any improvement in the economy there are some green shoots and the recent decisions will help revive investment the electricity regulators decision to allow adani to revise tariffs to factor in the higher cost of fuel is one such move it gives the feeling that others will also be able to cover costs and gain which will help projects take off several projects have been held up because the developer could not pass on the higher cost of coal similarly the clarity on environment and forest clearances for road projects and other steps being taken by the national highways authority of india nhai will again get investors interested but these things must continue and the finance ministrys initiative to meet developers and banks to resolve individual projectrelated problems will help create a strong pipeline but consumption demand remains low which is affecting auto companies and others the consumer durables sector has not picked up it will pick up when people have surplus money and get back to buying during the last growth phase the demand was abnormally high and we will see a pickup when the overall sentiment improves further what about real estate our exposure to real estate excluding home loans is less than 1 over the past few months we have seen a buildup in inventory as developers have found it tough to raise funds one of the problems was that anyone with some land became a developer although that seems to be changing now with large players such as godrej tata and adani entering the sector this will increase transparency and banks should review their lending strategy we will look at the opportunity offered by large corporate houses entering the area and will tie up with them for offering home loans to borrowers too what about npas which have emerged as a big threat for public sector banks the economy is growing at a slower pace and the global environment remains gloomy as a result people are unable to keep the cash flow going and creating some stress but this is cyclical we saw the steel sector grapple with it successfully in the 1990s this time too as demand picks up the pressure will ease that should happen in 612 months but companies must cut costs and become efficient a onetwo percentage point reduction in rates will lower the debt obligation and that will helprbi has cut rates twice and you are one of the few banks that has passed on the 25basispoint benefit now that the march rush is over will you cut rates further there has