ING Vysya Bank plans to expand its presence in Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat to meet the regulatory norm pertaining to minimum loan exposure to the agriculture segment.

As against the regulatory requirement that banks should have an exposure of 18 per cent of their overall loans to the agriculture segment, the private sector bank’s exposure is about 13.5 per cent.

As at December-end 2012, the bank’s total gross advances stood at Rs 32,153 crore.

“In FY14, we clearly want to focus on agriculture lending as there is a pressing need to reach out to the end consumer in the farming sector,” said Mahesh Dayani, Retail Assets – Country Head, ING Vysya Bank.

Hence, the Bangalore-based bank plans to widen its network across more States beyond its current presence in the southern and eastern regions.

“We would like to penetrate more in Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat,” Dayani told Business Line .

According to Dayani, the bank plans to grow the segment consciously “not just because of the regulatory requirement but also as it is a profitable venture”.

“Our selection criteria is to fund the farmers who rely on the multiple cropping models so failure of one crop can be subsidised by the other,” Dayani said.

In addition, the bank is providing farmers a range of products including Kisan Credit Cards to cover their credit requirements at the pre- and post-harvest stages.

The bank also offers customised products for various agricultural activities such as dairy, poultry, pissiculture and nurseries.

>beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in

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