The Hindu : Other States News : PNB proclaims special schemes for Defence forces

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Other States

Other States

PNB proclaims special schemes for Defence forces

Staff Correspondent

Benefits for defence personnel in Himachal Pradesh

Vast number army and para-military personnel in Himachal
Facilities such as overdraft, sweep-in-and-out savings accounts,loan concessions

SHIMLA: In yet another inventive scheme, the Punjab National Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union Ministry of Defence to provide facilities such as overdraft, sweep-in-and-out savings accounts, housing loan and personal loan concessions and waiver of upfront fees for all Defence personnel including the BSF, CRPF, CISF and para-military forces.

The announcement was made here on Monday by the Chairman and Managing Director of PNB, K. R. Kamath.

Mr. Kamath, who was here to attend a meeting, said the tiny hill State of Himachal with its vast number of serving and retired army and para-military personnel also has a large network of 259 PNB branches and has adopted a number of villages under the financial inclusion drive.

With a business of about Rs. 12,400 crore here, the Bank has registered a growth of 35 per cent and controls almost a quarter of the entire banking system in Himachal Pradesh, he said.

Being one of India's oldest and largest banks, the total business of the Bank reached Rs. 5.55 lakh crore in March this year and has shown a growth rate of 25.5 per cent and a credit deposit ratio of 77.38 per cent. The NPA has come down to 1.79 per cent of the total credit, he said.

Mr. Kamath also announced plans to develop an agricultural training centre under the Bank's CSR liabilities so that hill farmers could hone their skills. “The Chief Minister has assured us the State government would make the land available for the purpose,” he said.

It was pointed out that though PNB has become the leading bank in many of the hill districts, its overall market share has drastically come down in Himachal.

The Chairman, however, maintained that while the share had fallen the overall banking market had also increased.

He also agreed that corporate borrowings for various hydro-electric projects coming up in the hill State were being done from metropolitan centres.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States