642 RRBs to be brought under two bodies

About 642 regional rural banks (RRBs) sponsored by the State Bank of India (SBI) and the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) in the Telangana region will come under the purview of two new setups "� the Vikas Grameena Bank and the Deccan Bank respectively "� from the next financial year.

According to RRB officials in the region, the amalgamation would enable them to strengthen the resource mobilisation network. "It will also guarantee better services for the rural customers."

The proposed amalgamation will bring together a total of 477 branches of the SBI in the RRB network spread across Warangal, Medak, Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts under one roof. These branches record an approximate net profit of Rs 33.80 crore every year.

RRBs like Kakatiya Grameena Bank (Warangal), Manjeera Grameena Bank (Medak), Nagarjuna Grameena Bank (Nalgonda and Khammam), Sangameshwara Grameena Bank (Mahabubnagar) and Srivisaka Grameena Bank (Vizianagaram) disbursed about Rs 1,695.57 crore as advances and collected deposits worth about Rs 1,875.95 crore by the end of December 2005.

Officials said the 477 branches had issued a total of 5.44 lakh Kisan credit cards. A total of 1,60,216 self-help groups were given matching grants in the respective bank branches.

According to Hariharan, chairman of Kakatiya Grameena Bank, all the 40 branches of the bank spread over the district disbursed Rs 175 crore as advances and collected Rs 175 crore as deposits by the end of December last year.

Similarly, Manjeera Bank with 64 branches, Nagarjuna Bank with 69 branches in Khammam and 77 branches in Nalgonda, Sangameshwara Bank with 64 branches in Mahabubnagar and Srivishaka Bank with 163 branches in Vizianagaram earned net profits. These branches were listed among the 16 profit-making RRBs.

The 165 SBH-sponsored RRBs in Telangana region include Saraswathi Grameena Bank in Adilabad (70 branches), Shatavahana Grameena Bank of Karimnagar (45 branches), a unit in Golconda Grameena Bank in Rangareddy district (23 branches) and Srirama Grameena Bank of Nizamabad (27 branches).

According to S Phani Rajamurthi, chairman of Srirama Grameena Bank of Nizamabad, his bank was offering its services in rural areas through the 27 branches.

All the SBH-sponsored branches sanctioned Rs 600 crore as advances while mobilising deposits to the tune of Rs 900 crore. These 165 branches would come under one fold and they would be called as Deccan bank branches.

For better services

RRB officials say that the amalgamation would enable them to strengthen the resource mobilisation network

The proposed amalgamation will bring together a total of 477 branches of the SBI in the RRB network, which record an approximate net profit of Rs 33.80 a year, under one roof