SBI plans one more zone in Bangalore circle

State Bank of India plans to restructure its Bangalore circle to include one more zone.

The move will enable the bank to focus better on the Bangalore zone, which contributes to 70 per cent of the circle's business, Mr Ashwini Mehra, Chief General Manager, SBI – Bangalore Circle, told Business Line.

“We want to create a separate zone for the coastal belt, as we feel there is scope for expansion there. This way, we will have a separate zone for Bangalore city,” he said.

SBI – Bangalore circle has two zones currently: Bangalore and Hubli. “The accent is also on opening more branches in metros where growth and turnaround is faster,” said Mr Mehra, adding that the bank has good presence in the rural and semi-urban areas.

The bank has about 550 branches in Karnataka, and wants to take it up to 600 by next fiscal. “We want to open the branches by September 2012 in order to stabilise them by the fiscal-end,” he explained.

Areas such as Chitradurga and South Canara would also be under focus for the bank.

The idea of expansion is to get more business from Bangalore, which contributes to 70 per cent of the bank's business. SBI – Bangalore Circle has seen a business of Rs 90,000 crore this fiscal, and “our target is to grow advances and deposits by 20 per cent,” said Mr Mehra.

According to him, agricultural loans are facing a setback as 120 taluks in the State have been affected by drought. Agri NPAs are at Rs 650 crore, and Mr Mehra hoped to bring it below Rs 500 crore.

“Recoveries are challenging,” he said, adding that cash recovery during the current year is Rs 201 crore. “Farmers were hoping to come into money with a good harvest, and that hasn't happened so far,” he explained.

anju@thehindu.co.in