Dhanalakshmi aims at Rs 8000cr business

Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited is aiming to achieve Rs 8,000 crore business by the end of this fiscal. The bank's total business as on March 2007, touched Rs 5,016 crore with Rs 16.14 crore net profit, VS Somanath, deputy general manager, Dhanalakshmi Bank, said here.

In the current year, the bank will add about 40 new branches across the four southern states as part of its strategy to reach the Rs 8,000-crore mark, he told the media. It currently has 181 branches, 26 extension counters and 66 ATMs, and shares arrangements with Cashtree.

In the current year, the bank is laying more thrust on agricultural advances in Andhra Pradesh. This year, the bank will provide Rs 400 crore loans, particularly to the sugarcane growers in Andhra, he added.

As of March 31, 2007, 150 branches of the bank were brought under the core banking solution.

"We have reduced our net NPA to 1.75 per cent by March 2007 from 2.44 per cent. Our target is to reduce it to 1 per cent by the end of this fiscal," he said.