State's deposits rise 20.76 per cent to Rs 2,72,076 crore.
Agriculture advances in Gujarat rose by 25 per cent in the financial year, 2010-11 to Rs 31,401 crore from Rs 24,955 crore during 2009-10, the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) for Gujarat state, observed at a meeting held in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Dena Bank, the convenor for SLBC-Gujarat, hosted the meeting where bankers as well as government representatives made deliberations to expedite financial inclusion plan (FIP) and rural branch network in the state.
Gujarat's deposits rose from Rs 2,25,299 crore to Rs 2,72,076 crore, up by 20.76 per cent against a growth of 17.42 per cent recorded the previous year. Credits grew by 20.71 per cent from Rs 1,55,575 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 1,87,803 crore in 2010-11. The committee noted that the private sector banks have recorded highest deposit growth of 36.44 per cent. The NRI deposits grew by 3.56 per cent at Rs 22,976 crore for 2010-11 against Rs 22,186 crore in 2009-10.
However, the credit-deposit (CD) ratio of Gujarat has slipped marginally from 69.05 as of March, 2010 to 69.03 for 2010-11, showing a drop of 0.02 per cent during the year 2010-11.
After the global economic slowdown witnessed in 2008-09, the banks were advised to extend finances to MSMEs, housing and auto sectors under the stimulus package. Under the package, which was announced on December 1, 2008 the banks in Gujarat have extended finance to the tune of Rs 29,983.24 crores upto March, 2011. MSME sector received Rs 14,783.3 crore, while housing and auto sectors received Rs 10,585.96 crore and Rs 4,613.98 crore. As many as 6,809 accounts opted for restructuring with an amount of Rs 1,085.78 crore, the committee noted.
"However, there have been several concerns for the banking sector in the current scenario. Especially with respect to financial inclusion. There is a need to further penetrate into the rural areas with branch expansions. The public sector banks need to expedite the branch network to take advantage of the government schemes like NREGA and Indira Aavas Yojana," said D L Rawal, chairman and managing director, Dena Bank and chairperson of the SLBC - Gujarat.
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"The priority sector advances of the state at 46.26 per cent as of March, 2011 is well above the stipulated benchmark of 40 per cent. Analysis of advances under various segments of priority sector shows that advances to agriculture sector increased from 18.93 per cent as of March, 2010 to 20.18 per cent as of March, 2011," the committee noted in its report.
Under the Financial Inclusion Plan in the Gujarat, the target set for the year ended 2010-11 has been crossed.
As per the data provided by the SLBC, the target of 1,007 villages for providing banking services was achieved, while a total of 2,186 villages are to be covered by all the banks by the March, 2012.
Advances to the priority sector witnessed a growth of 17.08 per cent (year-on-year) from Rs 61,471 crores for the year ending March, 2010 to Rs 71,975 crores for 2010-11. Officials from Reserve Bank of India, Nabard and rural development department, government of Gujarat were present at the meeting.