Private sector Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer R Venkataraman informed that by the end of February next bank will be setting up its first mobile ATM at Thrissur in Kerala.
Speaking at a press conference he told that the Thrissur-headquartered bank has obtained license to set up seven mobile ATMs in cities including Chennai, Thiruvanathapuram and Coimbatore.
He stated that certain issues are there to be sorted out and after getting regulatory approval the first ATM will be installed in Thrissur probably by the next month end.
"Once the police permission is through, other things will fall in place and by June, all the seven mobile ATMs will be rolled out," he said.
In the press conference Venkatraman also announced that the CSB had chosen the Bangalore-headquartered Sun Microsystems India for the implementation of comprehensive Core Banking Solution (CBS) to help centralize its operations for ensuring speedy and flexible services to customers.
He told that by the August next all the 356 branches of the bank would be included with the CBS.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Axis bank continue its robust growth
Axis bank once again has beaten analysts’ expectations on all boundaries by continuing healthy growth in the December 2007 quarter.
Net interest income jumped by 91 per cent y-o-y to Rs 747 crore—this being the highest in the past four quarters—whereas advances and deposits grew by 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively and also there was an increase in net interest margin (NIM).
Its NIM showed an increase by 63 basis points q-o-q and 91 basis points y-o-y to 3.91 per cent. This was because of a jump in profit on advances while CASA (current and savings account) was maintained at 45 per cent sequentially.
Although other income went up 74 per cent y-o-y to Rs 488 crore, but still it was lower than the 87 per cent growth reported in the September 2007 quarter.
There was an increase of 81 percent to Rs 348 crore in the bank’s fee income and trading profits were up 65 per cent to Rs 131 crore in Q3. All these factors are responsible for the doubling of operating profit to Rs 672 crore while operating expenses went up by 67 per cent.
Moreover, its net profit grew relatively slower at 66 per cent to Rs 307 crore as supplies and emergencies went up 290 per cent and a 68 per cent jump was recorded in tax provisioning. However, growth in net profit is still higher than previous three quarters and has been higher than expectations.
Axis Bank is comparatively resistant to the slowdown in the retail credit and high cost of funding. This is because other advances like corporate, SME (small and medium enterprises) and agriculture loans have grown faster than retail advances and retail credit’s share of 25 per cent has gone down from 28 per cent last year.
On Wednesday the stock closed 2.5 per cent higher on the bourses. However, at Rs 1,096, the stock has risen nearly 50 per cent in the last three months and trades at 4.2 times its FY09 estimated adjusted book value, and looks fairly valued.
Therefore, its operating profit grew 15.8 per cent q-o-q in Q3 FY08, while its operating revenues rose 4.3 per cent q-o-q to Rs 209.3 crore. The rupee appreciation affected the top line growth by 2.2 per cent.
Nevertheless, iGate’s working profit margin rose 170 basis points q-o-q to 17.5 per cent in the last quarter. The stock gained about 1 per cent to Rs 401 on Wednesday.
In the September 2007 quarter too, the company had accounted a 260 basis points q-o-q growth in its working profit margin. Meanwhile, in Q3 FY08, iGate extended its revenues from North America and Asia Pacific on a sequential basis, which helped overall IT services revenues rise by 3.7 per cent q-o-q.
Also, the company was able to influence a 6.1 per cent q-o-q growth in onsite volumes, coupled with a 3.5 per cent q-o-q growth in onsite billing rates.
Though the company’s offshore part declined 100 basis points q-o-q in the last quarter, but senior management officials figured out that increased use of relatively less experienced employees helped keep direct costs under check.
The company management is having a positive point of view about the pricing environment and expects to grow revenues by 5-6 per cent sequentially over the next few quarters.
iGate promoters made an open offer through reverse book building at Rs 410 and now own 93.4 per cent in the company. The stock is expected to be delisted. Existing shareholders who were not able to take the shares can now take them at same price.
Although the difference in this quarter profitability is that, the profit came more from net interest income (core business) rather than non-interest income unlike in last several quarters.
Net interest income jumped by 91 per cent y-o-y to Rs 747 crore—this being the highest in the past four quarters—whereas advances and deposits grew by 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively and also there was an increase in net interest margin (NIM).
Its NIM showed an increase by 63 basis points q-o-q and 91 basis points y-o-y to 3.91 per cent. This was because of a jump in profit on advances while CASA (current and savings account) was maintained at 45 per cent sequentially.
Although other income went up 74 per cent y-o-y to Rs 488 crore, but still it was lower than the 87 per cent growth reported in the September 2007 quarter.
There was an increase of 81 percent to Rs 348 crore in the bank’s fee income and trading profits were up 65 per cent to Rs 131 crore in Q3. All these factors are responsible for the doubling of operating profit to Rs 672 crore while operating expenses went up by 67 per cent.
Moreover, its net profit grew relatively slower at 66 per cent to Rs 307 crore as supplies and emergencies went up 290 per cent and a 68 per cent jump was recorded in tax provisioning. However, growth in net profit is still higher than previous three quarters and has been higher than expectations.
Axis Bank is comparatively resistant to the slowdown in the retail credit and high cost of funding. This is because other advances like corporate, SME (small and medium enterprises) and agriculture loans have grown faster than retail advances and retail credit’s share of 25 per cent has gone down from 28 per cent last year.
On Wednesday the stock closed 2.5 per cent higher on the bourses. However, at Rs 1,096, the stock has risen nearly 50 per cent in the last three months and trades at 4.2 times its FY09 estimated adjusted book value, and looks fairly valued.
In the December 2007 quarter iGate was able to counterbalance the 1.5 per cent q-o-q rupee appreciation through a tight check on its operating costs and enhanced volume and billing rates in areas such as ERP and data warehousing.
The US mortgage servicing business, which has been a drain on the company since the fourth quarter of last year, continued to do badly.
Therefore, its operating profit grew 15.8 per cent q-o-q in Q3 FY08, while its operating revenues rose 4.3 per cent q-o-q to Rs 209.3 crore. The rupee appreciation affected the top line growth by 2.2 per cent.
Nevertheless, iGate’s working profit margin rose 170 basis points q-o-q to 17.5 per cent in the last quarter. The stock gained about 1 per cent to Rs 401 on Wednesday.
In the September 2007 quarter too, the company had accounted a 260 basis points q-o-q growth in its working profit margin. Meanwhile, in Q3 FY08, iGate extended its revenues from North America and Asia Pacific on a sequential basis, which helped overall IT services revenues rise by 3.7 per cent q-o-q.
Also, the company was able to influence a 6.1 per cent q-o-q growth in onsite volumes, coupled with a 3.5 per cent q-o-q growth in onsite billing rates.
Though the company’s offshore part declined 100 basis points q-o-q in the last quarter, but senior management officials figured out that increased use of relatively less experienced employees helped keep direct costs under check.
The company management is having a positive point of view about the pricing environment and expects to grow revenues by 5-6 per cent sequentially over the next few quarters.
iGate promoters made an open offer through reverse book building at Rs 410 and now own 93.4 per cent in the company. The stock is expected to be delisted. Existing shareholders who were not able to take the shares can now take them at same price.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Extortion threats call closing of banks and schools in Manipur
In 2008 also, Manipur is still entrapped under extortion threats and banks and schools are closing down due to demand for money from armed organizations operating in the state. The latest to follow is the United Bank of India to close down the several branches of the bank, the employees of which have stopped the work and are sitting on stir since yesterday.
On January 5 the Khumbong branch of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was also closed following similar demands from an armed organization. Parents worried for their children have withdrawn them from the school. While the school principal had appealed to the parents to send back the children by today. Armed guards from Indian Reserve Battalion have been posted round-the-clock to protect the school.
According to reports available the employees of around 15 branches of the United Bank of India have refused to come back to work in spite of the pressure from its headquarters in Kolkata to keep the transaction going on in all its branches.
Due to close-down of these branches, all transactions running into crores of rupees daily have come to a grinding halt. The UBI used to be one of the leading banks in the state before it was taken over by the State Bank of India; still it has a strong presence in Manipur with several branches in rural and urban areas. Besides from handling commercial transactions, the UBI also handles salary and pension payments of the government employees.
Under the banner of United Forum of Banks Union employees are holding a dharna at the main branch in the capital located along the MG Road, demanding the withdrawal of the demands for money.
A meeting of the forum has also appealed to neighborly banks to support their protest. The forum decided to stop work indefinitely till the illegal militant organization withdrew their demand for money.
An employee of the bank said that when they took the matter to the regional office and headquarters office, they were ordered to keep the branches open and not to acknowledge to the demands of the armed groups. In such a situation, only the employees will become the soft targets. "We also cannot meet the huge demands from our own pockets," he added.
Another employee told that the bank has been frequently receiving threats. For fear of retaliation, the bank employees or their union are yet to lodge complaint with the police.
Meanwhile, the Imphal West police have registered a suo motto case. Before also, the financial institutions have received threats. The LIC Imphal branch had to be closed down for about two weeks in June 2007 following demands for money.
On January 5 the Khumbong branch of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was also closed following similar demands from an armed organization. Parents worried for their children have withdrawn them from the school. While the school principal had appealed to the parents to send back the children by today. Armed guards from Indian Reserve Battalion have been posted round-the-clock to protect the school.
According to reports available the employees of around 15 branches of the United Bank of India have refused to come back to work in spite of the pressure from its headquarters in Kolkata to keep the transaction going on in all its branches.
Due to close-down of these branches, all transactions running into crores of rupees daily have come to a grinding halt. The UBI used to be one of the leading banks in the state before it was taken over by the State Bank of India; still it has a strong presence in Manipur with several branches in rural and urban areas. Besides from handling commercial transactions, the UBI also handles salary and pension payments of the government employees.
Under the banner of United Forum of Banks Union employees are holding a dharna at the main branch in the capital located along the MG Road, demanding the withdrawal of the demands for money.
A meeting of the forum has also appealed to neighborly banks to support their protest. The forum decided to stop work indefinitely till the illegal militant organization withdrew their demand for money.
An employee of the bank said that when they took the matter to the regional office and headquarters office, they were ordered to keep the branches open and not to acknowledge to the demands of the armed groups. In such a situation, only the employees will become the soft targets. "We also cannot meet the huge demands from our own pockets," he added.
Another employee told that the bank has been frequently receiving threats. For fear of retaliation, the bank employees or their union are yet to lodge complaint with the police.
Meanwhile, the Imphal West police have registered a suo motto case. Before also, the financial institutions have received threats. The LIC Imphal branch had to be closed down for about two weeks in June 2007 following demands for money.
Banks keep away from lending fearing Liquidity crunch
Liquidity: Stays surplus
Banks were taking precautions in lending today even as liquidity was in surplus as they are set for outflows in the market.
Termed rates, at which banks lend and borrow for their daily fund requirement, floated around 5.5-6 per cent. However, RBI mopped up around Rs 4,650 crore from the market today compared with Rs 12,000 crore on Monday.
Rates in the collateralized lending and borrowing (CLBO) market also remained above 6 per cent since mutual funds feared compensation from banks to manage liquidity in coming days.
G-sec: High volumes
Aggregate in the government securities market was at Rs 11,000 crore as most of the banks bought bonds in the beginning of the trading session and then gained profits. As a result, the profit fell first then rose during the latter half of the trading session.
According to dealers, most of the banks engaged in trading and floating portfolio in preparation for the government’s security auction to be held on Friday. The profit on the ten-year benchmark paper first fell to 7.64 per cent, but closed during the day at 7.67 per cent.
Prices of government securities showed a growth by 30-40 paise across maturities. Although, profits in the shorter end of the profit curve rose marginally after falling since the outlook on liquidity was expected to fall.
The long-term deed with the maturity of 30 years rose up by 72-75 paise
Tracking firm yields in the short term, the market expects the cut-off yield in the auction of 91- and 182-day treasury bills to move up by 4-5 basis points compared with the last week’s yield. The 91-day T-bill fetched a cut-off yield of 7.02 per cent last week.
OIS and corporate bonds: Yields rise
The concern on liquidity tightening towards the end of the week moved yields up in the overnight interest rate swap market (OIS).
While other maturities ranging from one year to five years witnessed firming up of yields by 2-3 basis points, in the three-month maturity, OIS yields moved up from 7.05 per cent to 7.15 per cent.
The possibility of liquidity tightening and resulting firmness in interest rates led banks to hit OIS deals in which they preferred receiving in floating rate of interest and paid in the fixed rate of interest.
The OIS market is a derivatives product based on the underlying of the interest rate on government securities.
There was brisk activity in the corporate bond market. The easing of yields in the three months to one year maturity that followed easy liquidity last week continued.
Oriental Bank of Commerce and State Bank of India associates raised funds through one-year certificate of deposits (CDs) at 8.60-8.70 per cent. CDs of private bonds were raised at 8.75-8.8 per cent, while foreign banks like ABN AMRO and Standard Chartered raised funds at 8.88-8.90 per cent.
Andhra Bank raised 10-year funds at 9.15 per cent. The triple-A-rated bond of LIC Housing Finance mopped up funds at 8.94 per cent for three years and at 9.14 per cent for 10 years.
Rupee: Ends flat
The spot rupee gained a fresh nine-year high of 39.21 after opening for the day at 39.22-23 to a dollar. This followed heavy selling of dollars by foreign banks on behalf of their FII clients, otherwise referred to as collective investments.
Later on there was massive intervention of RBI, which bought dollars in the spot market. There were no exchange deals by RBI to book the dollars at a future date.
Therefore, the annualized premia for the six-month and one-year forward dollars came down and closed at 1.44 per cent and 1.22 per cent as against 1.50 per cent and 1.20 per cent on Monday.
Global markets: Yen falls
The yen deflated to close at $109.51 since global funds bought dollars and sold the yen. The euro and the pound closed at $1.4714 and $1.9760.
Banks were taking precautions in lending today even as liquidity was in surplus as they are set for outflows in the market.
Termed rates, at which banks lend and borrow for their daily fund requirement, floated around 5.5-6 per cent. However, RBI mopped up around Rs 4,650 crore from the market today compared with Rs 12,000 crore on Monday.
Rates in the collateralized lending and borrowing (CLBO) market also remained above 6 per cent since mutual funds feared compensation from banks to manage liquidity in coming days.
G-sec: High volumes
Aggregate in the government securities market was at Rs 11,000 crore as most of the banks bought bonds in the beginning of the trading session and then gained profits. As a result, the profit fell first then rose during the latter half of the trading session.
According to dealers, most of the banks engaged in trading and floating portfolio in preparation for the government’s security auction to be held on Friday. The profit on the ten-year benchmark paper first fell to 7.64 per cent, but closed during the day at 7.67 per cent.
Prices of government securities showed a growth by 30-40 paise across maturities. Although, profits in the shorter end of the profit curve rose marginally after falling since the outlook on liquidity was expected to fall.
The long-term deed with the maturity of 30 years rose up by 72-75 paise
Tracking firm yields in the short term, the market expects the cut-off yield in the auction of 91- and 182-day treasury bills to move up by 4-5 basis points compared with the last week’s yield. The 91-day T-bill fetched a cut-off yield of 7.02 per cent last week.
OIS and corporate bonds: Yields rise
The concern on liquidity tightening towards the end of the week moved yields up in the overnight interest rate swap market (OIS).
While other maturities ranging from one year to five years witnessed firming up of yields by 2-3 basis points, in the three-month maturity, OIS yields moved up from 7.05 per cent to 7.15 per cent.
The possibility of liquidity tightening and resulting firmness in interest rates led banks to hit OIS deals in which they preferred receiving in floating rate of interest and paid in the fixed rate of interest.
The OIS market is a derivatives product based on the underlying of the interest rate on government securities.
There was brisk activity in the corporate bond market. The easing of yields in the three months to one year maturity that followed easy liquidity last week continued.
Oriental Bank of Commerce and State Bank of India associates raised funds through one-year certificate of deposits (CDs) at 8.60-8.70 per cent. CDs of private bonds were raised at 8.75-8.8 per cent, while foreign banks like ABN AMRO and Standard Chartered raised funds at 8.88-8.90 per cent.
Andhra Bank raised 10-year funds at 9.15 per cent. The triple-A-rated bond of LIC Housing Finance mopped up funds at 8.94 per cent for three years and at 9.14 per cent for 10 years.
Rupee: Ends flat
The spot rupee gained a fresh nine-year high of 39.21 after opening for the day at 39.22-23 to a dollar. This followed heavy selling of dollars by foreign banks on behalf of their FII clients, otherwise referred to as collective investments.
Later on there was massive intervention of RBI, which bought dollars in the spot market. There were no exchange deals by RBI to book the dollars at a future date.
Therefore, the annualized premia for the six-month and one-year forward dollars came down and closed at 1.44 per cent and 1.22 per cent as against 1.50 per cent and 1.20 per cent on Monday.
Global markets: Yen falls
The yen deflated to close at $109.51 since global funds bought dollars and sold the yen. The euro and the pound closed at $1.4714 and $1.9760.
FM told banks to refrain from going public about expansion plans
The state-owned banks have been warned by the government to exercise self-control before going public about their expansion or merger and acquisition plans.
Recently in meeting with CEOs of state-owned banks, finance minister P Chidambaram had told them that often bankers have been quoting in the media speaking about their acquisition and expansion plans. A banker who attended the meeting told that the bank chiefs have been told, as the government is the major shareholder, banks must get their plans approved by the government before making any public announcements. According to bankers, the comment from FM’s side had come because of recent developments.
In the recent case, SK Goel, chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based UCO Bank, had told the media that UCO will not acquire any banks, but will be merging with some other bank in three months. Indeed, several bank CEOs have quoted in the media about bank acquisition plans either in overseas or local markets.
Whereas some bank chiefs also have expressed their plans of counterfeit alliances with foreign partners in the asset management and insurance business. At the meeting convened by the finance ministry the warning to bankers formed part of the introductory remarks made by the FM to bank chiefs. The meeting was convened to review the six-monthly performance of banks in Delhi last week. The government’s equity holdings in state-owned banks range from 51% to 100 % in 28 such banks.
Bankers understood the FM’s message as an attempt to indicate that the “key shareholder has the right to know about the plans of banks as first-hand information rather than learning about it through the media”.
“Also, the FM may be trying to convey that there are so many announcements by bank chiefs without much action. It would be better if banks get the plan approved and implement it immediately,” said another banker. Sensitivity of the statements made by the bankers becomes point of worry as effect can be seen on account of sharp stock price movements.
Bankers said that while, at one point the government is talking about granting autonomy to state-owned banks, on the other hand, it is resorting to micro-management. This is most obvious in the fact that the FM himself urged banks to cut interest rates.
“Going by corporate governance norms, the government has its nominee on the board and as far as the board is kept informed it should be enough. There is no need to inform individual shareholder, be it a minority or a majority shareholder. Unfortunately, under the banking legislation, CMDs and EDs are appointed not by the board, but the government. And thus, the government emerges as the power centre,” said Hemindra Hazari, head of equity research, Karvy Stock Broking.
By the way, none of the banks that have expressed their plans to acquire a bank in the domestic market have obtained the approval from their boards. While within days of the warning from the government, the CMD of a large Bangalore-based bank quoted in public about the banks plan of acquisition possibility. The bank chief had added that he expects some action to take place this year.
Recently in meeting with CEOs of state-owned banks, finance minister P Chidambaram had told them that often bankers have been quoting in the media speaking about their acquisition and expansion plans. A banker who attended the meeting told that the bank chiefs have been told, as the government is the major shareholder, banks must get their plans approved by the government before making any public announcements. According to bankers, the comment from FM’s side had come because of recent developments.
In the recent case, SK Goel, chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based UCO Bank, had told the media that UCO will not acquire any banks, but will be merging with some other bank in three months. Indeed, several bank CEOs have quoted in the media about bank acquisition plans either in overseas or local markets.
Whereas some bank chiefs also have expressed their plans of counterfeit alliances with foreign partners in the asset management and insurance business. At the meeting convened by the finance ministry the warning to bankers formed part of the introductory remarks made by the FM to bank chiefs. The meeting was convened to review the six-monthly performance of banks in Delhi last week. The government’s equity holdings in state-owned banks range from 51% to 100 % in 28 such banks.
Bankers understood the FM’s message as an attempt to indicate that the “key shareholder has the right to know about the plans of banks as first-hand information rather than learning about it through the media”.
“Also, the FM may be trying to convey that there are so many announcements by bank chiefs without much action. It would be better if banks get the plan approved and implement it immediately,” said another banker. Sensitivity of the statements made by the bankers becomes point of worry as effect can be seen on account of sharp stock price movements.
Bankers said that while, at one point the government is talking about granting autonomy to state-owned banks, on the other hand, it is resorting to micro-management. This is most obvious in the fact that the FM himself urged banks to cut interest rates.
“Going by corporate governance norms, the government has its nominee on the board and as far as the board is kept informed it should be enough. There is no need to inform individual shareholder, be it a minority or a majority shareholder. Unfortunately, under the banking legislation, CMDs and EDs are appointed not by the board, but the government. And thus, the government emerges as the power centre,” said Hemindra Hazari, head of equity research, Karvy Stock Broking.
By the way, none of the banks that have expressed their plans to acquire a bank in the domestic market have obtained the approval from their boards. While within days of the warning from the government, the CMD of a large Bangalore-based bank quoted in public about the banks plan of acquisition possibility. The bank chief had added that he expects some action to take place this year.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Syndicate-e-banking and ATM facilities inaugurated in Coimbatore
In Coimbatore at the Gandhipuram branch of the Syndicate bank e-banking and ATM facilities were unveiled. The facilities were inaugurated by A.R. Nagappan, Director, of Syndicate Bank.
Speaking on the occasion A.R. Nagappan said around 300 branches are in the process of up gradation and hooked to the CBS network. He further added “We are also planning to unveil a number of new products through multi-level delivery systems. We will shortly introduce mobile banking facility as well.” Bank DGM (Regional Office) C.J. Chacko, stated that this would be the 64th branch in the Coimbatore region to be brought under CBS. He said, “We will be adding 5 more ATMs soon.” Chacko told the total business in this region is of the order of Rs 2,400 crore.
Speaking on the occasion A.R. Nagappan said around 300 branches are in the process of up gradation and hooked to the CBS network. He further added “We are also planning to unveil a number of new products through multi-level delivery systems. We will shortly introduce mobile banking facility as well.” Bank DGM (Regional Office) C.J. Chacko, stated that this would be the 64th branch in the Coimbatore region to be brought under CBS. He said, “We will be adding 5 more ATMs soon.” Chacko told the total business in this region is of the order of Rs 2,400 crore.
Monday, January 7, 2008
FM to tell banks by 2009-10 meet the target of minority lending
Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who will be presiding over a meeting of 28 public sector banks (PSBs) chiefs, is likely to ask them to accelerate steps for achieving the target of 15 per cent priority sector lending to the minorities by 2009-10.
In October last year the instructions were issued in this regard by the department of financial services, merely 19 banks have drafted a plan to achieve the target by March 2010.
By the starting of January 1, the country’s largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI), had neither prepared any plan nor appointed a nodal officer to exclusively look into the problems of the minorities and ensure smooth credit flow to them.
Likewise, six other banks have yet to respond to the department’s query on the steps being taken to open more branches in 121 minority-concentrated districts. Five more banks are yet to respond to the department on the steps being taken to increase credit access to the minorities in these 121 districts.
Correspondingly, 21 public sector banks are to respond on the steps so far taken to create awareness of credit access to the minorities in the selected districts.
In the meantime, the ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to open a website to displaying data on credit given to the minorities.
Leading banks of the districts have been asked to supervise disposal of loan applications received from the minorities and provide reasons for rejections on a quarterly basis on the website.
The department has instructed the banks to set up special minority cells and designate a nodal officer to look after the problems of the minority communities.
It had also asked the banks to prepare handbook laying down specific state-wise annual targets over a period of three years to make sure that the overall level of priority sector lending to the minority communities is raised from the current level of 9 per cent to 15 per cent in 2009-10.
In October last year the instructions were issued in this regard by the department of financial services, merely 19 banks have drafted a plan to achieve the target by March 2010.
By the starting of January 1, the country’s largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI), had neither prepared any plan nor appointed a nodal officer to exclusively look into the problems of the minorities and ensure smooth credit flow to them.
Likewise, six other banks have yet to respond to the department’s query on the steps being taken to open more branches in 121 minority-concentrated districts. Five more banks are yet to respond to the department on the steps being taken to increase credit access to the minorities in these 121 districts.
Correspondingly, 21 public sector banks are to respond on the steps so far taken to create awareness of credit access to the minorities in the selected districts.
In the meantime, the ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to open a website to displaying data on credit given to the minorities.
Leading banks of the districts have been asked to supervise disposal of loan applications received from the minorities and provide reasons for rejections on a quarterly basis on the website.
The department has instructed the banks to set up special minority cells and designate a nodal officer to look after the problems of the minority communities.
It had also asked the banks to prepare handbook laying down specific state-wise annual targets over a period of three years to make sure that the overall level of priority sector lending to the minority communities is raised from the current level of 9 per cent to 15 per cent in 2009-10.
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