Bhubaneswar: State Bank of India (SBI) will provide 12-month moratorium to its customers in Odisha on the repayment of loan in the areas affected by the severe cyclonic storm Fani.
State Bank of India (SBI) Managing Director (Retail and Digital Banking) P K Gupta who visited Puri June 5 to assess the damage caused to the bank and its customers by the cyclone said the moratorium will cover loan given to MSME, agriculture loan and housing loan.
He said, only the loanees who have been affected by the cyclone would get the benefit. The bank, Gupta said is also restructuring the loan and advancing fresh loan to help the people.
The SBI has already provided 11,000 loans worth Rs 120 crore to customers for rehabilitation and resuming their livelihood activities in cyclone Fani affected districts.
The loans included Rs 98 crore for agriculture, Rs 15 crore for MSME, Rs 5 to 6 crore to fishermen and the rest for home and other sectors. The SBI had restructured 200 MSME and house building loans.
Gupta said, SBI proposed to provide loans to 500 affected fishermen for purchasing boats and nets.
SBI, he said is committed to serve the people of Odisha and would provide 19,000 mosquito nets to the cyclone affected victims in Puri district.
Since a huge number of trees were uprooted in the cyclone, the SBI has decided to plant 15,000 trees in affected areas. Each branch of SBI will plant 100 trees during the coming monsoon, the SBI MD said.
Gupta said the bank employees are moving door to door and settled more than 1,000 insurance claims so far.
Replying to a question, he denied that the SBI is losing market share in the digital banking sector.
The SBI launched the digital banking with a 30 to 35 per cent market share which was slightly reduced after some banks also entered into the area.
When asked whether the SBI would reduced the interest rate on loan after the RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 points today, the MD said the issue would be discussed in the Assess Liability Committee meeting and a decision would be taken.
Gupta said SBI has 872 branches in Odisha including 706 branches in rural and semi urban area, 2,840 ATMs and 4,227 CPS adding that more branches being planned in the coming year.
(UNI)