The Bhubaneswar circle of the State Bank of India (SBI) has been ranked top among the 14 circles of the bank in terms of growth rate of advances in personal banking segment during the nine months of the current fiscal.
Personal banking advances have grown by more than 50 per cent during this period. Between April and December, 2001, the bank has sanctioned Rs 300 crore advances under this segment. Helped by this surge in lending, the total personal banking business has gone up by a record Rs 860 crore in the same period.
According to bank sources, the total business exposure of SBI in Orissa currently stands at a new high of Rs 9,000 crore, of which personal banking business constitutes 52 per cent.
Meanwhile, SBI's Bhubaneswar circle has doubled its net profit to Rs 42 crore in nine months ending December 31 last against Rs 20.05 crore in the corresponding period previous year. While average per employee business has increased by 21 percent, the per employee net profit has gone up by 115 per cent.
Sources said the bank has set itself a target to mobilise Rs 1,000 crore deposits and sanction Rs 650 crore advances in the state during the current financial year.
On another front, donning the role of prime mover of Orissa economy, SBI has pumped in Rs 525 crore by way of loans and advances in first three quarters of the fiscal. As a result, credit deposit (CD) ratio of the bank in the state has gone up to 56 per cent from 50 per cent in March 2001.
This development is particularly comforting for the bank in light of the criticism by the state administration that commercial banks were not investing enough in Orissa - a phenomenon which is indicated by their below the national average CD ratio for the state. The average CD ratio of commercial banks in Orissa was 43.72 percent in September, 2001.
SBI has sanctioned Rs 120 crore housing loan in Orissa during the period under review. The major chunk of this loan has gone towards repair and reconstruction of the houses damaged in the flood last year.
Sources said, the bank's priority sector advance at Rs 1347 crore was the largest among all commercial banks in the state. The priority sector lending constituted 42 per cent of the total advances issued by the SBI Bhubaneswar circle and was above the benchmark of 40 per cent.
Sources pointed out that the bank has fully computerised 137 branches in Orissa, which accounted for 72 per cent of its business. SBI has a network of 474 branches in the state. The bank has installed 25 ATMs at different places of which five are connected with national network.
SBI has also installed a chair for research on rural economy in the Utkal University at a cost of Rs 21 lakh to be paid over a period of five years. This is the only chair maintained by the bank in the country at present and the money for the purpose is given from the R & D fund of the bank.
Besides, the bank has donated Rs 28 lakh in the state for various social activity during the current fiscal.
