Andhra Bank Vizag to organise loan recovery melas

With a view to bringing down non-performing assets (NPAs), Andhra Bank, Visakhapatnam zone, is planning to organise special recovery camps at all its branches to recover loans as small as Rs 25,000 from defaulters.

"Till March 2005, this zone's gross NPA level was 5 per cent, at Rs 33 crore. Our target is to reduce NPA to 1.8 per cent by the end of this fiscal. For this, we are planning to undertake special branch-wise recovery drive in December," K Suryanarayana, deputy general manager, Andhra Bank, Vizag zone, told Business Standard.

The bank has already issued notices to 163 big defaulters under the Securitisation Act in this zone, he said.

The bank has also decided to organise deposit melas for one month from October 22, taking inspiration from the recent success of its deposit mobilisation utsav during which the bank mobilised Rs 92 crore.

"During last fiscal, Andhra Bank Vizag zone enrolled 82,000 new account-holders as against the target of one lakh. Our new savings and current accounts are attracting more customers due to low minimum deposit and value-added services," he added.

A few days back, Andhra Bank, Visakhapatnam zone, had tied up with the East Coast Railway to accept Visa and Master cards for train ticket reservations.

Suryanarayana said all the 79 branches including those located in rural areas in this zone would be networked by March 2007. Currently, 52 branches have been networked.

The bank is planning to open five more ATMs in addition to the existing 24 across the three coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.