CDR of Gujarat banks disappoints Modi, suggests bankers to change approach

The Gujarat CM asks bankers to change their mindset and have humanitarian approach towards target beneficiaries from weaker sections

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed disappointment over low credit deposit ratio (CDR) in nationalisd banks of the state compared to other states and suggested lead bankers to change their mindset and have humanitarian approach towards target beneficiaries from weaker sections.

Speaking at the 138th meeting of State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) held in Gandhinagar, Modi also suggested the bankers to act in a mission mode to provide banking access to poor, youth, women and the neo-middle class and outline the road map for inclusive growth.

Modi said that it was disappointing that the CDR of nationalised banks in Gujarat was as low as 75 in comparison to over 100 in other states. The chief minister was also not impressed with the reason for low CDR given by bankers. They had claimed that the SLBC report does not take into consideration accounts of companies and industries registered in Mumbai.

"The reason for low CDR is unacceptable. This put a big question mark over dependence of Gujarat banks on some companies of Mumbai to achieve CDR of 100," Modi said.

He advised the bankers to adopt a humanitarian approach and provide loans to poor and weaker sections in the same way as the big corporate. He also asked the bankers to make education loans process simple and contribute to the low-cost housing schemes of the state government by providing hassle free loans to weaker sections of the society.

The chief minister who has been declared BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections raked up the issued of farmer suicides and said the increase in number of farmers committing suicide because of heavy debt posed a serious problem for the society.

Banks need to act in mission mode to get the farmers out of the vicious trap of private money lenders, he added.

He suggested that banks should give primacy to agro processing and value added organic farming. Emphasising the importance of tourism and infrastructure Modi suggested inclusion of these sectors in banking priority sector for lending.