2 Co-Op Banks Miss Financial Target

All except two of the central and co-operative banks in the state failed to achieve their financing targets in the last financial year even though all of them overshot their investment targets for the period.

In other words, the banks chose to deploy funds in excess of requirements in government securities but failed to act as bankers in financing projects and assets.

The banks combined reported a total diversified financing of Rs 41.02 crore against a projected Rs 70 crore figure in the previous fiscal. The total investment made by these entities stood at Rs 1,507 crore, way above the targeted investment figure.

Burdwan Central Co-operative Bank, which topped the list at Rs 22.45 crore of excess investment, missed its finance target by Rs 2 crore against a projected Rs 10 crore figure, the highest target for financing in its category.

The 24 Parganas South Unit of West Bengal State Co-operative Bank was another failure. The bank had targeted a Rs 1 crore figure for financing but managed to achieve only Rs 7 lakh.

The Hoogly DCCB, after having fixed a Rs 7 crore target, achieved Rs 1.92 crore in financing of projects. In contrast, the Hoogly DCCB went in for investments of Rs 129.04 crore against Rs 108.55 crore in the previous financial period, registering a 19 per cent growth rate.

The neighbouring Howrah DCCB also fell short of its target, reporting project financing of only Rs 28 lakh against the proposed Rs 3 crore. This bank however also missed its investment targets by Rs 9 crore.

Vidyasagar CCB, which was the second largest in terms of excess investments compared to target, also overshot its target for financing of projects by Rs 69 lakh at Rs 7.69 crore against the targeted Rs 7 crore. Meanwhile, the highest growth in investment was recorded by Jalpaiguri CCB at 54 per cent.

Of the 21 banks in West Bengal, as many as eight overshot their target as far as investments were concerned. However, an equal number of banks - eight - failed to attain their target for investments. The cumulative figure for banks that overshot the target for investments was higher than the cumulative shortfall in investments. However, all co-operative banks in the state registered a rise in investment.