Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct/most appropriate options.

AU Small Finance Bank Limited is an Indian Small Finance Bank, based in Jaipur, India. It was founded as vehicle finance company AU Financiers (India) Ltd. in 1996 and converted to a small finance bank on April 19, 2017.

AU Small Finance Bank serves low and middle-income individuals and micro and small businesses that have limited or no access to formal banking and finance channels. The Bank offers loans, deposits, and payment products and services. AU Small Finance Bank ranked 355 in the list of Fortune India 500 (2019) companies, with annual revenue of 3410.87 crore (US$427 million) and Total B/S Assets of 31198.68 crore (US$ 3.9 billion).

AU Bank enjoys a long-term credit rating of "AA-/Stable" from CRISIL Ratings, ICRA Ratings, India Ratings and CARE Ratings.

The company was founded by Sanjay Agarwal (Managing Director and CEO of AU Small Finance Bank) as a private limited company, and publicly listed in an IPO on June 29, 2017. A merit holder Chartered Accountant and a first-generation entrepreneur, he holds ~ 28.5% stake in the bank. He is supported by a team of 23486 employees.

AU Small Finance Bank is listed on NSE and BSE with a market capitalisation of ~ 37942 crore. On its first day of trading, the stock rose 51% to be the most expensive bank in India based on price-to-book. In November 2017, the Reserve Bank of India added the bank to its schedule of commercial banks, further improving the bank's growth prospects by reducing the cost of short-term funds and improving the bank's ability to provide services.

Over the years, the Bank has attracted marquee investors like IFC, Warburg Pincus, Temasek Holdings, Nomura, Kotak Mahindra MF, etc. Private equity companies that provided venture capital, including Warburg Pincus and International Finance Corporation, made partial exits for as much as nine times their original investment.

Due to its history as a vehicle finance company, as of March 2018 almost all the loans made by AU Small Finance Bank were secured, unlike most small finance banks that have unsecured loans due to their background in microfinance. This provides lower yields (lower interest rates) than unsecured loans, so the bank has been particularly active in growing its deposits, as bank deposits have a lower cost than other sources of funds. It has also sought to diversify into savings products like deposits, payment/transaction banking, distribution of third-party products, and additional loan products thereby positioning itself as a holistic financial products and services provider.

As on June 30, 2021, AU Small Finance Bank's distribution network............... 758 Banking Touchpoints and 23486 employees spread contiguously across 15 states and two Union Territories with over 2 million customers.

The bank has operations in 15 States and two Union Territories, with Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh being key states. It is one of the largest banks by a number of locations in its home state of Rajasthan.

Q:

Choose the synonym of the word 'Improving'.

• 1
  Impairing
• 2
  Tarnishing
• 3
  Vitiating
• 4
  Ameliorating
• 5
  Deteriorating