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Bank of India (BoI) has planned to focus on rural areas and would cover about 110 villages in Tamil Nadu under the Financial Inclusive Plan of the RBI, according to Mr N. Seshadri, Executive Director, BoI.
SME credit plans
The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were another thrust area for the bank which has launched tailor-made products meeting the cash flow cycles of the SME sector, he said.
Speaking to newsmen here, he said the goal of the bank was to speed up the processing of SME credit proposals. In Coimbatore, the bank has opened an SME city centre that would have jurisdiction over Coimbatore city, Tirupur, Erode, Avinashi, Chengapalli, Ganapathipalayam and Pollachi. The SME centre would serve as ‘sales and processing hub' to attract high potential clients.
He said the bank has now four new products that were tailor-made to suit the requirements of the SME sector — Star SME Contractor Credit Line, Star SME Auto Express, Star SME Liquid Plus and Star SME Education Plus – in addition to the traditional SME products.
Mr S. Chandrasekaran, Zonal Manager, BoI, Coimbatore Zone, said the bank had sanctioned Rs 959 crore as credit advance to the SME segment in Coimbatore zone. It has planned to double the assistance in the zone, which has a significant presence of SMEs, by financing Rs 1,000 crore more in a year.
Mr Seshadri said the bank has planned to increase its rural thrust by opening more rural branches in Tamil Nadu. At present, the bank has about 200 branches in the State and would open about 20 more branches in the near future. Under the Financial Inclusive Plan (FIP) of the RBI, the bank intends to appoint 4,000 correspondents, taking their total to 5,000 and even members of the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) would be nominated under this proposal.
The bank has planned to cover 68 villages in Coimbatore zone and 44 villages in other parts of the State under the FIP of the RBI. Till now, about 75 per cent of the accounts were opened and the rest by the end of current fiscal. The bank has sanctioned 16,000 education loans worth Rs 190 crore in Coimbatore zone.
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