KC Land & Fin to meet RBI officials for banking permit

Welcoming the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s decision to grant banking licence to IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services, Chandigarh-based KC Land & Finance, one of the aspirants for banking licence said they would meet RBI officials very soon and pursue their case for licence.

In an Interaction with Business Standard, Vikas Sharma, chief executive officer of KC Bank of Doaba, the proposed bank by the company, said,"This is indeed a welcome step by the RBI which will take banking to the masses. Since we have qualified on all three parameters or the statutory requirements set by the RBI, we request them to grant us the licence. As reported in certain sections of media that RBI believes that differentiated banking licence will be more appropriate for some of the private players aspiring to set up banks in the country. Therefore, granting licence to operate on regional level also suits us. We have a strong presence in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh. We request them to allow us to operate on the regional level initially. Depending on our performance, they may allow us to extend our operations on a national level later."

Being one of the aspirants, Sharma said,"If granted licence, we would commence operations in Punjab in un-banked rural villages of Doaba region, which is even difficult to access on Google. In the absence of a bank, these people keep cash in their houses. So operating in these area will help in bringing funds in mainstream and would also help the economy. There is a lot of potential area which need to be tapped and granting licence to us will help the under-privileged sections of the society."

Advocating their case, Sharma added," We are from a rural background and have a strong foothold in the rural market. This would help in serving the people as we know the pulse of the masses. Also, with the rollout of certain central schemes, the role of the banking sector became more evident and that is where the opportunities are. Since our plan is to initially focus on the rural sector through self help groups and microfinance, this will help us to meet the financial inclusion norms."

The group has three verticals - hospitality, real estate and educational institutes. In the hospitality arm, the group owns three hotels - Pride KC Hotel & Spa (the only 5-star property in Panchkula), KC Residency in Chandigarh and KC Cross Roads in Panchkula. They also have seven colleges and a school in Nawanshahr. In addition to this, they also run six colleges and a school in Himachal Pradesh. The group is also coming up with a new hotel in Chandigarh, with a total project cost of Rs 85 crore, group housing in Mohali (Rs 100 crore) and cottages in Kasauli (Rs 400 crore).