6 PSU banks join Rs 1 lakh cr club

Higher credit offtake combined with robust deposit growth saw six public sector banks cross the landmark Rs 100,000 crore figure in business turnover, which includes net deposits as well as advances, in 2006-07.

The six banks that have joined the major league are Syndicate Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, IDBI Bank and Allahabad Bank.

State Bank of India (SBI) tops the chart of large-sized banks, with a total business turnover of Rs 772,858 crore, followed by Canara Bank (Rs 240,887 crore), Punjab National Bank (236,456 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 2,08,537 crore), Bank of India (Rs 204,817 crore), Union Bank of India (Rs 147,566 crore) and Central Bank of India (Rs 134,572 crore).

This took the total number of public sector banks that have surpassed the Rs 100,000 crore mark at the end of March 2007 to 13 against seven banks in 2005-06. With the Indian economy growing at a rapid pace, both deposits and advances have increased significantly during 2006-07.

The aggregate business turnover of public sector banks rose almost 26 per cent during the year compared with last year, while the total business volume rose by 7,05,713 crore to Rs 34,34,322 crore as on March 31, 2007.

The aggregate deposits of public sector banks rose 23 per cent to Rs 19,94,200 crore against Rs 16,22,481 crore, while bank credit recorded a robust growth of 30 per cent to Rs 14,40,123 crore compared with Rs 1106128 crore last year.

With rising inflation, interest rates rose across the board during the fiscal. Interest rates on deposits of major public sector banks over one-year maturity increased from 6-7 per cent in March 2006 to 7.5-9 per cent (as per the RBI Weekly Statistical Supplement) in March 2007.

While the increase in lending rates had a moderating impact on credit growth, the jump in deposit rates created favourable conditions for deposit growth.

Vijaya Bank, United Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra and State Bank of Travancore crossed the Rs 50,000 crore mark to join the league of mid-sized banks.