Kerala Gramin Bank has retained its position of being the top regional rural bank in India, despite facing a drought in nine out of the 14 districts of the state during FY18, according to a report by The Hindu Business Line.
Nagesh Vaidya, Chairman of the bank told the newspaper, “The focus on rural economy, particularly under credit, has helped the bank maintain its lead among other players. IT innovations are attracting new-gen customers to our fold in a big way. The National Payments Corporation of India acknowledged this by selecting us for the best performance award under the cheque truncation system.”
According to the report, the regional bank saw a 50 percent rise in its operating profits from Rs. 202 crore to Rs. 304 crore. However, its net profit saw a decline of 27 percent from Rs. 102 crore to Rs. 73.46 crore. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
On account of increase in educational loans, the bank's net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of the bank increased by 30 percent due to the defaults, the report suggests.
Regional rural banks are the largest lenders of educational loans in terms numbers and quantum, Vaidya told the newspaper.
Vaidya said that the bank keeps aside 46 percent of its funds to cover loan losses under the Provisioning Coverage Ratio (PCR), the report adds.
The bank also opened 15 new branches in 2017-18 and added six lakh new customers, taking the total number of branches to 600 and the customer base to 81 lakh.
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