Banks in Goa saddled with Rs 17,000 cr cash

Considered the fifth best holiday destination in the world, Goa has emerged a new 'cash-rich' state if one goes by the inflow of money in banks in the state.

The total deposits in various scheduled commercial banks in Goa are more than Rs 17,000 crore. Of this, term deposits (fixed deposits) are over Rs 13,000 crore.

An important characteristic of high deposits in Goa is the significant contribution from non-resident emigrants (NREs) "� through remittances "� which account for around 33 per cent of the deposits, according to an official document made available exclusively to Business Standard.

The taluka-level mobilisation of deposits reveals that three coastal talukas "� Salcete, Bardez and Tiswadi "� account for more than three-fourths of the total deposits.

During the last two decades, the number of banking offices has increased by over 77 per cent. Currently, scheduled commercial banks have 451 branches in Goa and the population covered by each bank is 3,070 persons.

In terms of per capita deposits at the national level, Goa with more than Rs 1 lakh deposits stands third after Delhi and Chandigarh.

Banks in the state have more than 34 lakh accounts, including saving, current and term deposit accounts.

According to official statistics, 33 per cent of the total accounts were term deposits. While the total deposits up to December 2005 were Rs 13,955 crore, 20 years ago (1985-86), the overall bank deposits were Rs 800.92 crore.

Of individual account holders in the state, 33 per cent are women, and this, officials say, speaks volumes for female empowerment in the state.

From the credit side, the outstanding debt extended by banks in Goa on December 31, 2005 was Rs 4,626 crore, which shows an increase of 17 per cent over the previous year.

The document says banks have contributed significantly to the industrial development in the state by extending nearly 45 per cent of the total outstanding loans for manufacturing and processing, construction activities, mining & quarrying, electricity, gas and water industries.

This is followed by personal loans at 22.4 per cent and housing and other loans at 9 per cent. Loans availed for agricultural activities were only 2.5 per cent displaying lack of interest in agriculture in the tiny tourist paradise.

Continuous decline in the credit-deposit (CD) ratio is a major concern of the state's banking sector. The ratio fell from 44.9 per cent in 1980-81 to 31 per cent in 2005-06 "� much lower than the nation average of around 66 per cent.

However, the situation has slightly improved in the last two years, as the CD ratio increased by 2 per cent in Goa. There is growth in extending loans by banks, but at the same time deposits have multiplied and, hence, the CD ratio has not changed much.