SBI offers to install ACs inside Jagannath temple in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Business Bureau
Bhubaneswar, June 18:

The State Bank of India (SBI) has proposed to provide air-conditioning services in the Jagannath temple in Odisha’s holy city Puri.

The said project would be completed before the Nabakalebara subject to the approval of the temple authorities and the temple servitors, said SBI Chief General Manager Krishna Mohan Trivedi of the Local Head Office (LHO) Odisha, at a press briefing here on Tuesday to mark the 35th foundation day of the LHO.

Highlighting the performances of the bank’s Odisha circle in the last one year, he said 779 branches cater to Rs 1.25 crore deposit accounts and Rs 11 .23 lakh loan accounts that include 1.2 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises.

Speaking about retail loan portfolio, he said the bank has Rs 2850 crore as home loan, Rs 627 crore as automobile loans and Rs 866 crore as education loan.

In all these loans, the bank offers a woman borrower a better rate of interest and that is also extended to agriculture loans and tractor loans, he added.

On the quantum of nonperforming assets (NPA), Trivedi said the bank’s NPA in the state at present is about Rs 600 crore less than the level that existed on March 31, 2012.

Approximately, 33 per cent of the NPA is on account of the mining sector, 15 per cent is from the metals sector and 15 per cent is contributed by the transport sector.

“With improvement in the economic scenario of the country, these sectors have shown signs of revival and the NPAs should show strong improvement,” he informed.

Replying to the concern of the media regarding safety at the ATMs, he said the bank is trying for a remote surveillance system as a pilot project in selected sites which involves monitoring though CCTV cameras at a central location and a quick reaction team to handle emergencies.

The bank that has 1831 ATMs in the state, plans to install another 400 machines in the current financial year, he added.