3-day SBI, CREDAI realty expo

State Bank of India, in association with real estate body CREDAI, inaugurated a three-day CREDAI SBI Realty Expo in Bangalore. The expo will bring under one roof 38 city-based developers showcasing about 25,000 properties.

Mr Ashwini Mehra, Chief General Manager, SBI – Bangalore Circle, which will offer on-the-spot in-principle approval for prospective buyers, also announced a 25-basispoint reduction in the home loan interest rate. Besides, there will be a 50 per cent concession on processing charges.

Mr Mehra said that Bangalore has a centralised loan processing centre for home loans, which will ensure faster sanction of loans. “Since it is online, we can monitor at each level and ensure that the turnaround time is the best,” he said. For approved projects, the turnaround time was an average seven days. The bank also plans to have two more loan processing centres in Bangalore by end-April — Hebbal and Koramangala, which will ensure faster processing of loan applications.

The bank is also looking at catering to high-value projects in a big way, and would have five branches in the city. “We are also trying to ensure that we maximise the number of projects that we approve,” said Mr Mehra.

anju@thehindu.co.in