Politics Insight News Without Politics
(Pi Bureau)
Virendra Singh Rawat
Business Writer
Uttar Pradesh-based Shivalik Mercantile Cooperative Bank is looking at Rs 5,000 crore business in the next three years compared to its total business of Rs 1,476 crore during 2016-17.
At the same time, the Bank is targetting to ramp up number of branches to 40 and expand to the virgin territories of Delhi and Uttarakhand markets, apart from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (MP), where it presently operates.
Shivalik would pursue both the organic and inorganic routes to grow in future. It had earlier merged an MP-based bank and is now open to similar acquisition(s) in UP.
“We are even planning to become a full-fledged commercial bank subject to the necessary regulatory approvals,” Shivalik MD & CEO Suveer Kumar Gupta said here.
Of the total business of Rs 1,476 core during the last fiscal, Rs 916 crore pertained to deposits and the remaining comprised advances.
Meanwhile, the Bank is bullish on the ecommerce, home loans, reverse mortgage, small and medium enterprises (SME), shopkeepers and rooftop solar power plant segments going forward.
On the sudden surge in deposits with banks following demonetisation last year, Gupta claimed it was temporary phenomenon, which had waned out now.
However, he noted the recently implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) had the propensity for big gains in long run, although the economy and businesses were still weathering its impact in the short term.
On the entry of new banks, especially micro finance institutions (MFI), in the commercial banking space and concurrent growing competition, Gupta opined these new entities were basically small lenders and would take 2-3 years to adapt to the large banking space.
“We have a customer base of about 2 lakh, which we would leverage to continue our growth trajectory, apart from adding new segments of customers to our kitty,” he quipped.
