Private sector Dhanalakshmi Bank has kickstarted a Mini Dairy Funding project in the backward Idukki district of Kerala and has plans to start a similar project in Tamil Nadu in two weeks time.
The bank proposed to start two more dairy projects in Kerala — Thrissur and another in a southern district. The Tamil Nadu project will start off in another two weeks time, General Manager, P G Jayakumar, told reporters here.
The bank's microfinance team had reached out to 200 mini dairies of the Nair Service Society (NSS) and MILMA in Idukki in the first phase and would be funding more such projects in other districts of the state, he said.
The project will be run with the support of the Self Help Groups (SHG)s members of the High Range Mannam Social Service Society (MSSS), a social service wing of the NSS.
Under the scheme, each dairy owners would need to form a five member Joint Liablity Group (JLG). The loan of upto Rs one lakh would then be sanctioned separately to each individual under the JLG.
Once the loan has been sanctioned, all beneficiaries would sell the milk produce to the local collection center of MILMA, Tilisa Gupta Kaul, Head Micro Credit and Agriculture, said. Each JLG would be sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for two years, she said.
The district with 1400 hectares of land under permanent pastures besides forest land, offers availablity of large quantities of fodder.
Idukki also has a very strong network of veterinary institutions, which includes polyclinics, artificial insemination centers, mobile farm aid units, mobile veterinary hospital, clinical laboratory, dispensary and 30 veterinary hospitals.
The bank's main focus will be on Micro finance and the response of the employees has been 'very positive', Jayakumar said . The bank has also announced the launch of its Rural Housing Finance under 'Grahashree Loans' in Kerala by which it aims to fund 300-500 houses.
This project is also part of the Micro Finance business of the bank. The project will be run by the support of the self help group members of the NSS, Jayakumar said.
Under the scheme, individuals would be given loans for the purpose Construction of new house, purchase of new house or renovation of existing house. The loan amount for construction of new house and purchase of house would be upto Rs 1.25 lkah and rs 50,000 for renovation of existing house. The tenor available would be upto 20 years.
There are also plans to adopt villages in Kerala. It would also adopt the Business correspondent model for financial inclusion, he said.
As of March this year, the bank had a total networth of Rs 400 crore, total deposit of Rs 4969 crore and advances worth Rs 3245 crore. It had booked a profit of Rs 57.45 crore in the last fiscal.
The bank has plans to open 66 branches and 380 ATMs across the country by this year end. Presently, it has 207 branches and 78 ATMs.
