KOCHI: With a good growth in the retail, agricultural sector, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in Kerala, the Syndicate Bank expects a 10% growth in business this year, said its MD and CEO Mrutyunjay Mahapatra.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating Syndicate Bank’s new zonal office (ZO) in Kochi on Friday, Mahapatra said the bank’s business in Kerala stands at Rs 20,093 crore.
He said the PSU bank is confident of achieving a growth of 13-14% in the country this fiscal.
“We are projecting a growth of roughly around 13-14% during the current year. We have a total of 237 branches in Kerala and the Ernakulam ZO will have six regional offices in the state reporting to it,” he said.
“Kerala has been a very important state for the bank and has contributed significantly towards the bank’s growth story so far. It was high time it had its own zonal office which will only improve banking services and thereby improve customer services and their overall banking experience,” said Mahapatra.
He said the Kerala flood has not affected the business of the bank.
“The MSME growth was affected in the flood which has picked up now. Since our major focus is on the agricultural sector, we have the highest takers for agricultural gold loan, a loan given to farmers for the emergency requirement against the gold jewellery they have in possession,” said Mahapatra.
Though Syndicate Bank is going to merge with Canara Bank, he said there would not be any retrenchment or closing down of its branches across the country, he said.
“We have 4,200 branches as of now and we are not expanding any further. It will take over 10 to 15 months for the amalgamation process to end,” he said.