Corporation Bank CMD predicts revival in industrial sector

Jays Jacob
14 December 2002

Kochi: “India’s credit off-take is slowly picking up. Though currently it is piggybacking on a retail boom, there are indications of a revival in the industrial sector,” says Corporation Bank chairman and managing director K Cherian Varghese.

“I am now getting proposals for capacity expansion from companies, which goes to show that there is some revival in the industrial sector,” he adds, cautioning that a clear trend is yet to emerge.

“At present industrial rejuvenation is being fuelled by retail loans products, particularly in housing, automobiles and consumer goods. This together with increased government investment in infrastructure could trigger an upturn in the credit off-take,” he says.

In the housing loan segment, Corporation Bank has nearly doubled the disbursal of Rs 631 crore achieved last year. Already, it has crossed Rs 1,100 crore. With a shortfall of 1.9 crore housing units, Varghese expects more demand for housing loans.

As part of its campaign for home loans, it is organising an Ernakulam home loan fair at TDM Hall for two days from 20 December 2002, which will bring together traders, manufacturers and insurance companies under a single roof for the benefit of customers.

The bank has received the sanction from the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) for selling insurance products. It has trained 63 officers for marketing these products. Corporation Bank has also tied up with Life Insurance Corporation and New India Assurance for distributing their products.