The State Government on Monday urged the banks to open their branches in unbanked gram panchayats as the year-on-year incremental deposit growth of the banks has recorded 15.82 per cent in the State.
Addressing the State-level Bankers’ Committee (SlBC) meeting here, State Additional Chief Secretary in-charge of Finance department Upendra Nath Behera said that if the banks open their branches in unbanked GPs, the State Government would ensure their access to Government funds meant for the Gram Panchayats.
Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, who also addressed the meeting, asked the controlling heads of the commercial banks to cover all he unbanked GPs in the State by the end the current Five-Year Plan period.
The banks were asked to open more branches in the unbanked GPs and boost up the credit-deposit ratio in the State. They were also asked to achieve targets in sanction and disbursal of loans in the agriculture and allied sectors.
The Chief Secretary also emphasised on disbursement of crop loans and loans for promotion of diary projects in the State. He said the Government has made budget provisions for interest subvention for short-term and long-terms crop loans, dairy and fishery projects and other allied activities. Banks have to reciprocate in this task and make full utilisation of the budgeted amounts in these sectors. A Banking Atlas of Odisha prepared by the Odisha Space Application Centre was presented at the meeting. The atlas has been prepared for achieving regional parity in banking facilities and bringing all the villages of Odisha under banking service.
Official sources said a total of 4,281 branches of various banks are operating in different parts of the State, out of which 2,335 are in rural area, 1,143 in semi-urban areas and 803 in urban areas.
The sources said the deposits of the banks in Odisha have increased from Rs 1,46,465 crore as on March 2013 to Rs 1,69,642 crore as of March 2014, registering an increase of Rs 23,122 crore.
Similarly, the incremental growth in total advances is 13.65 per cent. During the 2013-14 fiscal, the total credit expansion by all the 4,281bank branches was recorded at Rs 1,44,726.71 crore by March 2014. Addressing the meeting, Director of Union Ministry of Finance Dr Alok Pande said that in the financial year 2013-14, there was visible progress in Odisha with regard to opening of new branches.
During this year, a total number of 458 new branches were opened, which is much higher in comparison to 229 in 2012-13 and 260 in 2013-14,
he said. However, Dr Pande urged the banks to have parity in opening of ATMs as there is a large regional disparity in this regard. He also asked the banks to give their suggestions regarding a proposal for credit guarantee scheme for those who do not have access to bank credits.