SBT's total business tops Rs 52000 cr

The Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered State Bank of Travancore's (SBT) total business has touched Rs 52,000 crore in November.

With this, SBT has entered the middle-level club of banks in the country, K Sitaramam, managing director, told newsmen here. "This is a milestone for the bank," he said.

As part of its special deposit mobilisation drive that started on on November 6, SBT has been able to open 4,09,045 new accounts, adding Rs 2,054 crore by way of deposits in just three weeks.

SBT had, in the same month, privately placed raised Rs 200 crore worth unsecured non-convertible subordinated perpetual bonds to augment tier-I capital, improving the capital adequacy ratio and enhancing its long-term resources.

Further, the credit-deposit ratio of SBT and the state has improved by 6.33 per cent during the last seven months to touch 66.29 per cent as on October, as against the March level of 59.96 per cent.

SBT's share of retail lending constituted 54.24 per cent of the total advances as by October-end this year.

Priority sector advances shot up by 7.81 per cent during the last seven months, registering a growth of Rs 627 crore.

On the agriculture lending front, Sitaramam said the bank had written off loans availed of by farmers who had since committed suicide.

The bank has achieved 100 per cent success in its financial inclusion initiatives in Palakkad district.

All households in the district have availed of the no-frills account scheme.

The bank has initiated efforts to emulate this in Alappuzha district too and it hopes to achieve 100 per cent financial inclusion in the district by March 2007, Sitaramam said.