200,000 PMJDY accounts opened in Himachal

Eighty nine per cent of the population was availing banking services in Himachal, says Chief Sacretary P Mitra

Within a week, banks in Himachal Pradesh have opened 192,500 accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY).

"Bankers should aim to open bank accounts of all left out households both in urban and rural areas by the end of October this year," state Chief Secretary P Mitra said on Wednesday.

Addressing the state-level bankers committee here, he said the state had a 3,757 per branch population as compared to the national average of 13,000.

"89 per cent of the population was availing banking services in Himachal," Chief Secretary P Mitra said.

The credit growth during the first quarter of current fiscal was 20.15 per cent compared to deposit growth of 12.23 per cent which has helped improve credit-deposit (CD) ratio.

UCO Bank Chairman and Managing Director Arun Kaul said the total deposits of banks in Himachal have recorded year-on-year growth of 12.23 per cent to Rs 65,877 crore.

Kaul said total advances of the banks have recorded growth of 20 per cent to Rs 29,899 crore in one year.

The credit-deposit ratio was 65.96 per cent, registering a growth of 1.23 percent over the previous year.

There are 1,827 bank branches in the state and 80 per cent of which are located in rural areas. There are 1,497 automated teller machines (ATMs) across Himachal Pradesh.

He sought the help of the state government to improve the recovery performance of banks, which was recorded 71.33 per cent up to June.