Press release

Mangaluru, Jun 10: “Karnataka bank is all set to have an Agriculture advance portfolio of Rs.6115 crores by March 2016, with an annual growth rate of 18.84 %. At present, bank has 10 Agriculture Development Branches (ADB), 142 Green Branches and 52  Agriculture Field Officers (AFOs) as dedicated resources for branches  to ensure hassle free  agriculture  lending and to minimize occurrence  of  non-performing  advances. Bank will continue to finance the needy borrowers  under all sectors of  agriculture to  ensure  inclusive  growth in accordance  with the  recently revised guidelines  of  Reserve  Bank  of  India”  said  P Jayarama Bhat MD and  CEO of the Bank in his key note  address at  the Agri. Business Conference of  the  bank held on June 9 at Karnataka bank head quarters in Mangaluru.

Further, Bank has  also launched ‘Kisan Rupay Debit Card” which  is  linked  to  KCCOD (Kisan Credit Card Overdraft) account  of  the  farmer clientele with built in accident  cover of  Rs.1.00 lakh without  any extra premium and  validity period  of ten years. It is  expected  to  benefit  large number  of  farmers who have  availed  crop loan  in  the  form  of KCCOD as  they can transact  through ATMs.

M S Mahabaleshwara, Chief General Manager of the Bank, in his special address informed that, “Bank should focus  more on developing  a  stress free  agriculture credit portfolio. Besides extending technical guidance to farmer clientele, the Agriculture Field Officers should ensure timely credit delivery and  its end use and recovery.”

General Manager Dr Meera Aranha in her  address  advised the participants to achieve the stipulated target under agriculture advances by focusing on strategies drawn.

Senior General Manager Jairama  Hande P, General Managers N Upendra Prabhu,  Raghurama, and Chandrashekhar Rao B and Deputy General Managers Subhahchandra Puranik and Nirmalkumar K Hegde  and Assistant General Manager Ramesh Bhat were present during the deliberations.

Detailed review of Agricultural Field Officers and Agriculture Development Branch Heads were made during the Conference.

In the beginning Nirmalkumar K Hegde, Deputy General Manager, Credit-B welcomed the participants.

Ramesh Bhat, Assistant General Manager  presented  the  performance  of  the  bank  under  agriculture  lending  during  the  year.

The Conference concluded with a vote of thanks by Venkata Krishna Bhat, Assistant General Manager.