16 Nov 2002

Gross NPAs rise 11.24% to cross Rs 70,000 crore
Mumbai: Gross non-performing assets of scheduled commercial banks rose by 11.24 per cent to Rs 70,904 crore as on March 31, 2002, up from Rs 63,741 crore at the end of the preceding fiscal.

Regional rural banks fare better in '01-02
Mumbai: Regional rural banks are doing fine, according to the Reserve Bank of India. The RBI said that although the number of profit-making RRBs declined over the year, The data in respect of 196 RRBs for 2000-01 and 2001-02 indicate that there was a significant improvement in their performance.

NBFCs show marginal assets growth
Mumbai: Aggregate assets of non-banking financial companies as on March 31, 2001 at Rs 53,878 crore increased by 0.5 per cent over the preceding fiscal despite a decline in the number of reporting companies to 981 from 1,005.

Prompt corrective action plan of banks on cards
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India is working on a prompt corrective action strategy which will help to ring-fence banks when trouble shows up at a very early stage

Banks to defer recovery of drought-hit farmers' loans
Mumbai: Farmers in the drought-affected districts of the country will not have to repay kharif crop loans, including interest, until next year. The entire loan amounts will also be restructured and repayment deferred by a minimum of four to five years, according to instructions sent out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to banks.

FIIs allowed to take full forward cover
Mumbai: In a move aimed at fine-tuning the exchange rate of the rupee, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday allowed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to take forward currency cover for their entire exposure in Indian equities while simultaneously raising the ceiling on advance dollar purchases by importers to $1,00,000 from $25,000.

Hudco ready to lend Rs 6,000 cr
Thiruvanathapuram: The Union Urban Development Minister, Ananth Kumar, has said that Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) is willing to extend up to Rs 6,000 crore to viable development project proposals that the State is able to come up with.

Bank of Punjab, PNB cut home loan rates
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Punjab yesterday announced reduction of interest rates on home loans. While PNB has reduced the rate within a range of 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent, Bank of Punjab has reduced its rates by 0.25 per cent across the board.

Birla Corp CP issue gets `PR1'
Mumbai: Credit Analysis and Research Ltd (CARE) has assigned a `PR1' rating to the proposed Rs 25-crore commercial paper programme of Birla Corporation Ltd.

Corpn Bank in talks with others for ATM sharing
Mangalore: Corporation Bank is in talks with `few' banks to strike alliances for sharing its automated teller machines (ATMs) on a fixed fee per transaction basis,says Chairman and Managing Director, K. Cherian Varghese.

Vijaya Bank rebate for loan repayment
Hyderabad: The public sector Vijaya Bank has begun offering a rebate of one per cent for prompt repayment of housing loans.

Credit concentration of foreign banks high: RBI
Mumbai: The degree of credit concentration in respect of foreign banks in India is relatively large and this is one of the reasons of high NPA ratios of smaller foreign banks, according to the RBI report on Trends and Progress in Banking for 2001-02.

FIs raised more funds externally
Mumbai: Financial institutions raised more funds from external sources during the year 2001-2002, on account of a softer interest rate environment. The share of external sources during 2001-2002 was 29.1 per cent as compared to 25.6 per cent in the previous year.

Moody's sets the mood in debt market
Mumbai: Another`crazy and euphoric' day in the Government securities market, where most players made moolah and traded volumes touched Rs 9,500 crore. G-sec prices were seen shooting up by 0.40-1.50 paise during the day across maturities on Friday.

Citi unveils pre-paid $ card
Mumbai: Citibank India, on Friday, announced the launch of the Citibank World Money Card, a point-of-sale enabled pre-paid dollar card that allows people travelling overseas on business or holiday, to carry and use their money in a safe and convenient way.

15 Nov 2002

Bourse course proved costly for Nedungadi
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India's decision to hand over the reins of the Kozhikode-based Nedungadi Bank to Punjab National Bank is the last nail in the coffin for one of the oldest banks in the country.

RBI sets up channel for emergency fund withdrawals
Mumbai: RBI has opened a centralised channel for emergency withdrawal by any depositor, despite the moratorium.

StanChart introduces resident foreign currency (domestic) account
Mumbai: Within a fortnight of the RBI guidelines on resident individuals being allowed to open foreign currency accounts (subject to guidelines), Standard Chartered Bank has introduced resident foreign currency (domestic) account.

Banks asked to adopt cash management tools
Hyderabad: The Chief Economic Advisor to the Union Finance Ministry, Ashok Lahiri, today asked banks to adopt better cash management techniques, which would not only enable them to increase non-interest income but also offer value-added products and services to clients.

PNB pact with Cisco
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cisco Systems to initiate the bank's largest ever IT infrastructure upgradation.

SBI launches debit card
Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) has launched `SBI Cash Plus', its Maestro debit card for which it has tied up with MasterCard International. Maestro is MasterCard International's online PIN-based deposit access programme.

RBI sets terms for PNB, Nedungadi Bank merger
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India yesterday unveiled to public a draft scheme to merge the Kerala-based Nedungadi Bank with Punjab National Bank (PNB). The scheme would be available to the public from both the banks.

Get professional, Governor tells Gujarat co-ops
Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Governor, Sundar Singh Bhandari, has called upon the scam-tainted co-operative banking sector to infuse more professionalism into its style of functioning if it were to weed out corruption from within.

South Canara co-op bank to upgrade
Mangalore: South Canara District Central Co-operative Bank, which started operations in the Dakshina Kannada district in 1913, is on an `upgradation' drive which is expected to make the bank more `customer-friendly'.

14 Nov 2002

HDFC slashes home loan rates by 25 Bps
Mumbai: Home-buyers can continue to party. The Housing Development and Finance Corporation on Tuesday effected a 25 basis points cut in its retail prime lending rate to 10.25 per cent from 10.50 per cent.

Purwar to focus on cost cuts, retail, tech upgradation at SBI
Mumbai: Newly appointed chairman of the Rs 3,80,000 crore State Bank of India, AK Purwar, will accord top priority to cost reduction, innovation on the retail side and technology upgradation to steer the bank through the current fierce competitive atmosphere.

Canara Bank hopes to keep higher other incomes
Mumbai: Canara Bank expects to maintain other incomes at higher levels with deepening of the government securities market and continued bias towards softer interest rates.

NCR to set up ATM production unit in India
Bangalore: NCR has decided to invest $ six million in India to set up an ATM manufacturing unit in Bangalore which will have a production capacity of 8,000-10,000 ATMs per annum and is slated to be operational by September 2003.

Birla Home Fin may get $20 million credit line from IFC
Mumbai: International Finance Corporation, Washington is likely to extend $ 20 million credit line loan to Birla Home Finance Ltd, part of the Rs 4,500 crore KK Birla Group.

Bharat Overseas to link branches
Chennai: Bharat Overseas Bank Ltd has signed an agreement with HCL Comnet Ltd for networking its branches across the country. The bank has also signed an agreement with Reliance Communication Infrastructure Ltd for using the latter's data centre facility in Bangalore.

Birla Home Fin to expand in TN
Chennai: Birla Home Finance Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between the K.K. Birla group and BHW Holding AG of Germany, plans to expand its presence in Tamil Nadu.

LIC scheme for IOB depositors
Mumbai: Indina Overseas Bank, in association with the Life Insurance Corporation of India,yesterday launched a group insurance scheme for its deposit holders. The scheme, named IOB Chiranjeevi Bima Yojana, will cover any individual between 18 and 44-1/2 years and Rs 575 for 45 to 54-1/2 years.

New York Life keen to hike stake in Indian venture
Mumbai: New York Life Insurance Company, touted to be the largest seller of life insurance in the US, today said that it would be interested in increasing its percentage of ownership in the joint-venture company, Max New York Life (MNYL) Insurance Company Ltd.

SBI Life in marketing talks with banks
Mumbai: SBI Life has begun tying up with public, private sector and cooperative banks for providing life insurance to account holders and for distribution of life insurance products.

SBM offers life insurance to customers
Bangalore: The State Bank of Mysore has rolled out Group Life Insurance schemes for its customers. The group insurance scheme `Super Surakha' is to provide life insurance cover for accountholders, farmers and housing loan borrowers.

Union Bank lines up festival incentives
Kochi: Union Bank of India has launched an aggressive push to its retail loan products in Kerala and is offering an array of incentives during the current festival season. These incentives can be availed up to December 31, 2002.

PNB, Bank of India to share ATMs
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank and Bank of India on Wednesday said that they would share their Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). Of the over 200 ATMs that PNB has across the country, 110 are connected through ATM switch.

Vysya Bank opens another ATM
Bangalore: Vysya Bank has opened its 13th ATM in Bangalore at the Suprabha Complex, Sri Vasavi Temple Road, Vishweshwarapuram. The bank plans to install 17 more ATMs by March next.

SBT reduces lending rates
Kochi: State Bank of Travancore has reduced its prime lending rate (PLR) with effect from November 1 in line with the cut in bank rate by RBI. The effective PLR now is 11.75 per cent and the prime term lending rate 12.25 per cent.

SBI provides 10 pc for Dabhol exposure
Mumbai: State Bank of India has, in its balance sheet for the first half of the current fiscal year, made prudential provision of 10 per cent for its nearly Rs 1,000-crore exposure to the Dabhol Power Company .

Canara Bank in pact with SBI for bank in Moscow
Mumbai: The Bangalore-based Canara Bank has entered into an agreement with State Bank of India for setting up a joint venture bank - Commercial Bank of India - in Moscow.

Legislation for AP urban co-op banks opposed
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government's reported move to bring in a separate legislation for the urban co-operative banks in the State has been opposed by the A.P. Urban and Town Co-operative Bank's Association.