Public sector Bank of Baroda (BOB) is eyeing a 25 per cent growth in Micro, Small and Medium (MSME) lending in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand during 2011-12.
At the end of 2010-11 financial year, BOB’s total MSME credit outstanding stood at Rs 3,528 crore, which was a growth of almost 26 per cent over the previous year.
“Our target is to achieve at least 25 per cent growth during the current financial year from this growing segment,” BOB general manager S C Ahuja told Business Standard here.
Asked if rising interest rates had cast a shadow over MSME loan repayment, he said there were no ‘significant defaults’, although there was some concern among the borrowers.
BOB has established 10 special MSME branches called ‘MSME Loan Factory’ in UP, which are mandated for time bound processing of loan requests in 14 or 21 days, depending upon the application.
These branches are located at the MSME clusters of Lucknow, Varanasi, Bareilly, Agra, Dehra Dun, Meerut, Shahjahanpur, Allahabad, Kanpur and Haldwani.
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Meanwhile, BOB today launched 22 new branches and 38 new ATMs in UP to commemorate its 104 th Foundation Day.
The Bank will open 100 new branches and 300 new ATMs in UP and Uttarakhand this year, of which 40 branches would be launched in un-banked areas to boost ‘financial inclusion’ in the region.
BOB has 754 branches and 386 ATMs in UP and Uttarakhand, excluding Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar districts, which are covered under National Capital Region (NCR).
Earlier, the Bank had already launched two Mobile Banking Vans (MBV) in UP which are currently serving the remote areas in Allahabad and Faizabad districts.
The MBV units have Core Banking Solutions (CBS) connectivity to provide banking services, including deposit and withdrawal of money.