Icici Bank Ups Priority Sector Portfolio To 13%

ICICI Bank has doubled its priority sector lending to around 12-13 per cent its total lending portfolio in the fiscal year 2002-03. The priority sector lending portfolio of the bank was at 4-5 per cent of its total advances in March 2002.

The bank is required to deploy 50 per cent of its incremental advances in priority sector as against a target of 40 per cent for other banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked ICICI Bank to maintain this ratio till its priority sector portfolio comes to 40 per cent of its total portfolio.

A major chunk of its priority sector advances consists of housing loans at around Rs 5,000 crore, even as its total outstanding loans are at around Rs 11,000-12,000 crore. Housing loans below Rs 10 lakh in metros and below Rs 5 lakh in other cities constitute priority sector lending.