Canbank exceeds RBI target for loans to women

The Bangalore-based public sector Canara Bank has exceeded the target set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in extending loans to women entrepreneurs.

For the fiscal-ended March, the bank's advances to women at Rs 3,484 crore were 6 per cent of the total advances, as against 5 per cent prescribed by the RBI. During the first quarter-ending June 2005, the bank's advances to women stood at Rs 3,879 crore, which made up 6.89 per cent of total advances. The bank aims to achieve 7 per cent in its total advances this fiscal.

According to R Prabha, general manager, Canara Bank is the first nationalised bank in the country to set up a specialised all-women branch. There are three such branches "" in Bangalore, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. The branches have in all advanced Rs 11 crore in 2004-05, while the deposits mobilised by them stood at Rs 18 crore.

Inspired by the success of the all-women branches, Prabha said that the bank proposes to open more such branches in the country. The next all-women branch will be open in Delhi.

Apart from these branches, the bank has also opened six mahila banking divisions to look after the interests of women borrowers.

"The bank is committed towards the overall development of women entrepreneurs," he told Business Standard.

The bank, which conducts training workshops for women entrepreneurs through its Centre for Entrepreneurship Development for Women (CEDW), is now setting up an incubation centre for food processing units. It will be located at its Self Employment Training Institute for Rural Women at Harohalli near Bangalore.

The bank proposes to provide plant and machinery to women entrepreneurs to try out their products for six months. The successful entrepreneurs will be given all the financial assistance to start their own small industrial units.

They will also be given the necessary marketing, packaging facilities and helped to brand their products, Prabha said.

Apart from this the bank is also working on providing a mobile marketing centre to sell the goods manufactured by women entrepreneurs. To begin with, the van will go around select places in Bangalore city.

Set up in 1988, the CEDW with branches in nine cities has till now assisted 6.75 lakh women in the country and trained them to take up their own business.

The centre conducts training camps for women on various self employment programmes like food processing, fashion designing, screen printing and handicrafts. It also provides them a forum for marketing their produce through 'Can Utsav' exhibition-cum-sales campaigns.