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Our Bureau

Kochi , Sept. 8

TO coincide with centenary celebrations, Bank of India, Kerala Region, is adopting two villages in the State to extend financial assistance for various agricultural related schemes.

The villages identified are Mannoor in Ernakulam district and Marottichal in Thrissur district to provide various family-friendly schemes.

The projects envisaged under the scheme include agricultural advances relating to dairy farming, gober gas production, vegetable cultivation through organic farming etc.

The adoption of two villages in Kerala is in line with the bank's strategy of taking over 101 villages throughout the country aimed at all round development of villages in India, Mr A.A. Badshah, Kerala Zonal Manager, said at a press meet here on Thursday.

The bank, with 71 branches in the State, has registered a credit growth of 35 per cent while the retail credit has grown by 50 per cent. He said the overall credit is set to reach Rs 775 crore with emphasis on agriculture and priority sector. The retail credit would constitute a major component of the overall credit growth.

It is proposed to mobilise Rs 900 crore deposits in the State with a substantial increase in the client base.

The bank, he said has a total business mix of Rs 1,300 crore with an impressive credit-deposit ratio of 81 per cent, one of the highest among major banks in the State, against the State average of 59 per cent.

The priority sector comprising agriculture, small-scale industry etc constituted 50 per cent of total credit as against the stipulated level of 40 per cent, he said and added that the bank is expecting an additional business of Rs 500 crore this year.

Apart from agriculture, the bank has identified information technology, education and tourism as the key sectors of growth in Kerala and has proposed to extend finance to various projects in these segments.

The bank has ambitious plans for infrastructure financing and tourism related projects in the State. It had already identified some projects in Vizhinjam port development and Goshree Island Development Authority (GIDA) proposals. The bank is also looking up financing for hotel projects in a big way considering Kerala's tourism potential, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr K.R.U. Nair, Chief Manager (Personnel and HRD), said the bank is planning to expand its branch network further in the State and is in the process of opening two more branches at Ottappalam and Chellakkara next month.

All the branches in the State are fully computerised and a total of 25 branches are already networked. He pointed out that 18 more branches would soon be networked enabling connectivity with the rest of the branches in 230 cities in the country.

In Kerala, the NPA was currently seven per cent against the all-India average of 2.1 per cent. The bank's special asset recovery team was aggressively tackling the NPA menace.

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Bank of India to adopt two Kerala villages for funding

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