Bank of India (BoI) is targeting to sanction Rs 700 crore advances during the current financial year in the Visakhapatnam zone, which comprises eight coastal districts from Srikakulam to Prakasam.
“Most of our branches are located in the rural and semi-urban area, so about 50 per cent of the loans goes to the agricultural sector,” GLN Sastry, zonal manager, BoI said. For speedy disposal of agricultural loan applications, the bank recently opened central processing centres at Amalapuram and Guntur.
During last fiscal, advances to the agricultural sector in the zone stood at Rs 200 crore and this year the bank expects this to be around Rs 350 crore. “This year, we are giving priority to the SME sector also. We would open a central processing centre in Visakhapatnam for quick disposal of SME loan applications,” said Sastry. About Rs 175 crore would go to the SME sector in the zone this fiscal.
BoI’s total business mix touched Rs 2,800 crore as of March 2011 — about Rs 500 crore more compared with the preceding year. It is targeting Rs 3,500 crore by the end of this fiscal. “This would come on the back of new branches, which we plan to open during the current fiscal. We have so far opened 11 new branches and another 23 branches will come up in these eight coastal districts by the end of the fiscal,” he said. Last fiscal, the bank added about 39 branches. To mobilise new business, the bank has appointed a business development manager for four districts. It also plans to open 25 ATMs in the zone during this fiscal.
The bank is giving more thrust on SB and Current Accounts, which provide more low cost and no cost deposits. Of the total deposits, low and no cost deposits now comprise 40 per cent.
As of March 2011, the bank had 570,000 accounts in this zone. It expects to add another 100,000 accounts this fiscal.