PSU banks need to set up 137 ATMs a day to meet FinMin target

Public sector banks will have to race against time to install 137 ATMs every day to meet the Finance Ministry's target of putting up cash dispensing machines at all their branches by March end.

 

According to the ministry, all the public sector banks are running behind schedule. The banks, which are required to install onsite ATMs at 34,668 branches by March 31, had set up 5,726 at the end of August.

 

In the remaining seven months of the financial year, the 26 public sector banks will together have to set up 28,942 ATMs, or an average of 137 every day.

 

The government has directed public sector banks to have ATMs at all their branches as part of its financial inclusion drive. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in his last Budget speech that "public sector banks have assured me that all their branches will have an ATM in place by March 31, 2014."

 

At the end of March 2013, public sector banks had a combined 72,340 branches, of which 37,672 had onsite ATMs.

 

According to the monthly rollout plan, 1,114 ATMs were set up in August against a target of 2,959.

 

As of August end, State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, had 3,339 ATMs left to be installed in the current financial year.

 

Bank of India has 2,586 ATMs to be set up and Allahabad Bank has to install 2,174 ATMs.