Rajkot Nagrik Sahakari Bank wipes out NPAs

Rajkot Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd said it has become a zero-NPA (non-performing asset) bank.

The bank posted a 17 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 14.01 crore in the financial year 2003-04 from Rs 13.09 crore in the last year.

Gross profit grew to Rs 28.68 crore in fiscal 2003-04 from Rs 24.50 crore in fiscal 2002-03.

"Banks are facing stiff competition. Many banks are coming with new offers to attract customers. We are prepared to take up the challenges by providing speedy and efficient services," the bank chairman Jyotindrabhai Mehta said.

"We are planning to interconnect all our branches so that customers can transact business anywhere, anytime," Mehta said.

ATM facility will be introduced initially in two branches of the bank, Mehta said. The bank has 23 branches in Gujarat and one in Mumbai.

The bank is planning to act as a corporate agent for leading insurance companies, providing additional services to its customers, Mehta said.

"We have more than 2.15 lakh members as on March 2004 and thousands of depositors. This shows that people repose faith in us. We can sell insurance products to our large number of clients," Mehta said.

The bank has become a zero-NPA bank, conforming to the new NPA norms stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India, Mehta said.

The reserve fund of the bank has gone up by 9 per cent to Rs 245.44 crore compared with Rs 225.20 crore in fiscal 2002-03. Deposits reached Rs 798.93 crore in the financial year 2003-04, recording a growth of 12.25 per cent.

Total deposits of the bank was Rs 711.72 crore in 2002-03.

Several co-operative banks in the state had collapsed in the past. Depositors of the Genco Bank have recently received cheques for the insured sum of their deposits.

Recurring deposits agents of Suryapur Co-operative Bank had been agitating to get their and the depositors' money is back.

Urban co-operative banks are facing several challenges such as interest rate mismatches, competition in the retail banking segment, asset liability management and technological upgradation, say experts.