Axis Bank to focus on improving credit-deposit ratio

Axis Bank, one of the leading private banks in the country, will focus on improving the credit-deposit (CD) ratio in Orissa.

The bank had a CD ratio of 33 percent by January 15 this year and aims to increase it to 40 percent by March 2009. The bank has chalked out plans to lend more to sectors like agriculture, micro-finance and mid cap corporates, said S K Mitra, president (eastern zone), Axis Bank.

Mitra was here in connection with the opening of new branches at Talcher and Jatani. He said, the bank has set up one agriculture cluster at Cuttack catering to the requirement of Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Bhadrakh branches. It is in the process of setting up of the second agriculture cluster at Sambalpur by the end of the current fiscal. This cluster will be able to meet the credit requirement of the farmers in the Hirakud Command Area (HCA).

Similarly, the bank is working on a plan to enhance the micro-finance lending substantially. While the bank has exposure to the NGOs like Viswa and Bandhan, it will expand the base.

To further enhance the credit flow to the mid and large corporate sector, the bank has decided to place one executive in Bhubaneswar specially to cater to the need of the corporate sector. This was previously managed from Kolkata office. That part, the credit flow to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), reeling under recession, will be augmented. It has set up a specialised SME cell at Bhubaneswar. If necessary, the bank may take up the restructuring of the loans taken by SMEs. Meanwhile, the bank has sanctioned credit limits of about Rs 200 crore to Tata Sponge, Tata Refractories and Gupta Power, though the loan is yet to be disbursed. The efforts by the bank to improve the CD ratio in the state assume importance as the state government is urging the banks having lower CD ratio to lend more.