Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, May 19, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
Money & Banking
-
Private Banks ICICI Bank plans to increase presence in rural areas Our Bureau
Mr Nachiket Mor
Mumbai , May 18 ICICI Bank plans to increase its points of presence in rural areas throughout the country from 3,500 to about 17,500 by FY06. The bank has an agriculture finance portfolio of Rs 6,373 crore and hopes to create an asset base of up to Rs 200,000 crore, said Mr Nachiket Mor, Executive Director, ICICI Bank. The points of presence include rural branches, franchisees, kiosks and tie-ups with micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and co-operative banks. Mr Mor said the bank hoped to tie up with around 80 more micro-finance institutions by the end of this year and with 200 more in two to three years. Currently, ICICI Bank has tie-ups with 45 MFIs and NGOs and an asset base of around Rs 400 crore. The bank has over 200 rural branches, 1,500 franchisees and 5,000 kiosks. These MFIs reach one million households and have zero default, Mr Mor said. Apart from providing funds, the bank also provides technical service to the MFI partners. "Our aim is to ensure that no customer will be more than 3-4 km away from an ICICI point of presence," Mr Mor said. Once the Reserve Bank of India permits banking correspondents, their service too can be used to cater to the rural areas, he added. According to Mr Mor, the country has a natural competitive advantage in agriculture. "Because of the tropical climate we can grow agriculture produce almost throughout the year," Mr Mor said. It can even beat the information technology sector, he added. Investment in supply chain and lending against warehousing receipts are businesses with huge potential, which have not been tapped fully yet. ICICI Bank is also developing specialised products to help farmers cut their losses. These include financing against commodities, index based products, health insurance at a micro level and weather insurance. Some of the States where weather insurance is offered include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The bank is also working with corporates to offer services such as giving working capital to farmers and selling insurance. Setting up independent weather stations is also part of the bank's future plans, said Mr Mor.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2005, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|