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Visakhapatnam Co-operative Bank Ltd, ranked among the leading 20 urban co-op banks in the country out of a total of 1,574, is set to touch the 50 branches mark this year, according to Chairman Ch Raghavendra Rao.
At a media conference here on Friday, he said the bank had so far opened 46 branches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the latest addition being in Rajahmundry earlier this week. “We have received licences from the RBI to open branches in Vijayawada, Guntur, Atchyuthapuram in Visakhapatnam district and one more in Hyderabad,” he said. “With the addition of the four in the coming months, we will touch the 50 mark, a target which we set for ourselves for 2020.”
He said the 100-year-old bank, with a deposit base of ₹2,531.56 crore and loans of ₹1,737.22 crore, was rated to be the foremost urban co-operative bank in South India and it was maintaining a healthy growth rate, though at present the banking sector as a whole was passing through a critical phase.
He said the progress of the bank was to an extent impeded in the aftermath of demonetisation, but it was recovering well. The bank was making all efforts to get the status of a scheduled bank and completing all the requisite formalities.
Rao further said the bank is confident of reaching the target of ₹3,500 crore in deposits and ₹2,500 crore in loans by 2020.
M Anjaneyulu, the former Chairman of the bank, said the policies of the NDA government are proving to be disastrous for the banking sector, with the non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to unmanageable levels, and demonetisation further compounding the problem.
He alleged that a misinformation campaign was being carried out that the banks were flush with funds after demonetisation, but the reality was not so rosy. He also opposed the merger and consolidation in the banking sector. He contended that the urban co-operative banks in the country are performing much better than the commercial banks and private banks, even though demonetisation had hit them too.
PV Narasimha Murthy, the CEO of the bank, said Visakha Co-op is paying 8.25 per cent interest on a five-year deposit for senior citizens and offering loans at competitive rates (housing loans at 9 per cent, gold loans at 9 per cent, personal loans at 11 per cent and consumer loans at 12 per cent).
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