| BANKING AND COMMERCE |
 |
GROWTH OF DEPOSITS AND CREDIT |
|
OUTSTANDING CREDIT ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION |
|
REGIONAL RURAL BANKS |
|
ROLE OF ALL-INDIA LEVEL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS |
|
SMALL SAVINGS |
|
LIFE INSURANCE |
| |
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18.1.0
|
Banks
have an important role to play in stimulating economic development
of a country or State. In Assam the network of Scheduled Commercial
Banks have widened the horizon of Social Banking policies and programmes,
which support all the vital sectors of the economy. According to the
Quarterly Handout of Banking Statistics of Reserve Bank of India,
March 2003, the number of reporting Bank Offices of all Scheduled
Commercial Banks in Assam stood at 1216, of which, 399 were Regional
Rural Banks. The average population covered per bank branch office
(based on the Census Population 2001) in the State stands 22,000 in
March, 2003 which is quite unsatisfactory in comparison to the all
India average of 16,000 population during the same period. The table
18.1 shows the number of Scheduled Commercial Bank Offices
in Assam as well as in India and the trend of deposits and credit
over the past few years. |
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|
18.1.1
|
The
Banking net-work operating in the Country as well as in the State
have been grouped under (i) State Bank of India and its Associates,
(ii) Nationalized Banks, (iii) Foreign Banks, (iv) Regional Rural
Banks and (v) Other Scheduled Commercial Banks. These Groups of Bank
have a distinctive role to play in the economic scenario of the State
and Central Sector. The position of the Bank Groups in Assam and India
is shown in table 18.2. |
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|
18.1.2
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Majority
of the Bank Branch Offices in Assam are located in rural areas. Out
of the 1216 reporting offices (As on March, 2003) as many as 792 Branches
i.e., about 65.13 per cent are located in the rural areas of Assam.
During March 2003, the reporting Bank Branch Offices situated in semi-urban
and urban areas were 260 and 164 respectively. However, their corresponding
credit-deposit ratio were far from satisfactory as the same remained
at the level of 32.87 percent in rural, 24.49 per cent in semi-urban
and 23.59 per cent in urban areas. |
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| GROWTH OF DEPOSITS
AND CREDIT : |
18.2.0
|
With
the expansion of banking facilities over the years there has also
been some augmentation not only in respect of volume of deposit but
also in respect of disbursement on credit by these banks. The aggregate
deposit with Scheduled Commercial Banks in Assam, which was Rs. 3955.87
crore in March, 1995 increased to Rs.8444.15 crore in March 2000,
Rs.11515.19 crore in March 2002 and then to Rs.12921.31 crore in March,
2003. The volume of deposits was 12.21 percent higher in March, 2003
over that of March, 2002. In respect of per capita bank deposits,
the position of Assam is however found to be unsatisfactory which
was Rs.4858 only on March, 2003 as against Rs.12451 at National level
(based on Population Census, 2001). |
18.2.1
|
The
disbursement of credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks of Assam indicates
more or less same trend as seen in case of bank deposits. The total
volume of credit disbursed by these banks amounted to Rs.1530.24 crore
in March,1995 which increased to Rs.2701.16 crore as on March, 2000,
Rs.3655.90 crore in March 2002 and then to Rs.3695.12 crore as on
March, 2003. Thus a marginal increase of 1.07 per cent only has been
observed in March, 2003, over that of March, 2002. The State accounted
for a meager 0.49 percent of the total disbursement of credit in the
Country as a whole. The Per Capita Bank Credit as on March, 2003 in
Assam was Rs.1389 as against Rs.7393 at National level (based on Population
Census, 2001). |
18.2.2
|
The
Credit-Deposit ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks in Assam has been
worked out at 28.6 per cent as on March, 2003 which is quite unsatisfactory
as compared to 59.4 per cent at all India level. According to the
report “Basic Statistical Returns of Scheduled Commercial Banks
in India” March, 2002, published by the Reserve Bank of India,
the total volume of credit sanctioned in the State as on March, 2002
was Rs.3655.90 crore, credit utilised in the State out of sanctioned
amount was Rs.3642.47 crore, credit sanctioned in the State but utilized
in other States was Rs.13.43 crore and credit utilized in the State
but sanctioned in other States was Rs.4455.67 crore. The total volume
of credit utilized in the State was Rs.8098.13 crore as against the
all India level at Rs.655993.08 crore thereby sharing 1.23 percent
only. The credit-deposit ratio as per sanctions declined from 33.6
per cent as on March, 1998 to 31.7 per cent as on March, 2002 while
the same for utilization increased from 37.8 per cent as on March,
1998 to 70.3 per cent as on March, 2002 in the State. The table
18.3 shows the Credit-Deposit Ratio in Assam as well as in
India. |
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| OUTSTANDING CREDIT
ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION: |
18.3.0
|
The
latest available data on outstanding credit of the group-wise Scheduled
Commercial Banks in the State under different sectors pertaining to
March, 2002 is presented in Table-18.4. |
|
The table shows that the outstanding total Bank Credit of the Scheduled
Commercial Banks in the State as on March, 2002 was Rs.8098.13 crore
which was higher by 115.39 per cent than that of Rs.3759.79 crore
of the previous year. Among all the Sectors Industrial Sector of Assam
occupies the top position with Rs.4305.85 crore i.e. 53.17 per cent
of the total outstanding credit of Rs.8098.13 crore as on March, 2002
as against 35.62 per cent recorded in the previous year. Out of the
total outstanding credit of the Industrial Sector, the share of Tea
Processing and Small Scale Industries were Rs.84.95 crore and Rs.172.41
crore respectively. Industries like Petroleum and Coal accounted for
a sizeable share with Rs.339.21 crore followed by Mining & Quarrying,
Food Manufacturing & Processing and Construction with Rs.296.96
crore, Rs.125.00 crore and Rs.34.70 crore respectively. Electricity,
Gas and Water alone share Rs.1964.02 crore of which Electricity Generation
and Transmission share is Rs.1878.74 crore followed by Non-conventional
Energy with Rs.75.01 crore and Gas, Steam and Water Supply with Rs.
10.27 crore. The outstanding credit of Rs. 678.55 crore under the
Trade Sector consist of Wholesale trade of Rs.253.32 crore and Retail
Trade of Rs.425.23 crore. The Agriculture Sector follows with Rs.386.90
crore, Transport Operator with Rs.141.61 crore and Artisans and Village
Industries with Rs.68.23 crore. |
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|
| REGIONAL RURAL
BANKS: |
18.4.0
|
The
Banking facilities for the rural people are being served by a network
of five Regional Rural Banks in Assam with a total number of 399 reporting
branch Offices as on March, 2003. The aggregate deposits with these
Banks was Rs.1364.85 crore at the end of March, 2003 against Rs.1217.37
crore at the end of March, 2002 thereby registering an increase of
12.11 per cent. The volume of Credit disbursed by these Banks increased
to Rs.465.64 crore at the end of March, 2003 from Rs.358.53 crore
at the end of March, 2002, thus showing an increase of 29.87 per cent.
The Credit-Deposit ratio of this Bank is 34.12 percent during March,
2002 as against 29.5 per cent during the same period of the previous
year. |
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| ROLE OF ALL-INDIA
LEVEL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: |
18.5.0.
|
The
basic idea behind setting up several all-India level Financial Institutions
during the post-independence period was to provide the much needed
thrust for the development of industrial and other important sector
of the national economy. Another objective was to utilize these institutions
as instruments for removing/reducing regional disparities in economic
growth. The network of such all-India level financial institutions
comprises institutions like IDBI, IFCI, ICICI, IDFC, SIDBI, IIBI,
Exim Bank, NABARD, LICI, GIC etc. besides the NEDFI, 28 SIDCs and
18 SFCs for catering regional/State needs. |
|
Over
the years operations of these institutions in the country have been
expanding on a fairly large scale providing every year much needed
finance to industry, trade, commerce etc. The volume of assistance
sanctioned and disbursed by all-India level financial institutions
and some State level financial institutions may be seen at Table-18.5
and 18.6 respectively. |
|
Table-18.5 |
|
Table- 18.6 |
|
It
has, however, been observed from the data available that Assam is
not receiving due attention in respect of sanction and disbursement
of finance by these institutions when compared with the position of
some other developed Sates as well as for the Country as a whole.
As a result, Assam has not been able to keep the pace with the developments
witnessed in some parts of the Country. Table-18.7
provides a comparative picture on institution-wise per capita assistance
sanctioned and disbursed in Assam and India for each of the years
from 1997-98 to 2000-01. |
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| SMALL SAVINGS: |
18.6.0
|
The
position of Assam under Small Savings Schemes is encouraging as observed
from the trend in the recent few years. The target for the net savings
collection was fixed at Rs.675 crore up to the end of March, 2003
against which the achievement was Rs. 645.38 crore thereby achieving
96 per cent of the targeted amount. The volume of gross savings collection
in the State was Rs.1863.11 crore during 2002-2003 and Rs.1636.06
crore during 2001-2002 while the net saving collection was reported
at Rs.645.38 crore and Rs.515.32 crore respectively for the same periods.
Thus, in percentage term the net savings has increased by 25 per cent
in 2002-2003 over 2001-2002. |
18.6.1
|
In
Assam, the popularly accepted type of Small Savings Schemes during
the last few years were Post Office Recurring Deposit Scheme (PORD),
Post Office Time Deposit (POTD), Post Office Monthly Income Scheme
(POMIS), Kishan Vikash Patra (KVP), National Savings Certificate VIIII
(NSCVIII) etc, As per the latest available information during the
year 2002-2003 the net savings collections was highest under Post
Office Recurring Deposits of Rs.185.73 crore followed by the Kishan
Vikas Patra of Rs.162.68 crore, Post Office Monthly Income Scheme
of Rs.159.61 crore, and National Savings Certificate VIII of Rs.115.24
crore. The net savings collection under Post Office Recurring Deposit
has increased from Rs.61.62 crore in 2001-2002 to Rs.185.73 crore
in 2002-2003 thereby registering a remarkable increase of 201 per
cent during the aforesaid period. Increasing trend has also been observed
in case of Post Office Time Deposit at 194 percent followed by Post
Office Monthly Income Scheme at 91 per cent, Kishan Vikash Patra at
8 per cent and National Savings Certificates VIII at 7 per cent during
2002-2003 over the
previous year. However, a decreasing trend has been observed in case
of Public Provident Fund by 65 per cent and Post Office Savings Account
by 5 per cent as compared to earlier position. |
|
The
security-wise collection of Small Savings in Assam is shown in the
Table-18.8. |
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|
| LIFE INSURANCE: |
18.7.0
|
The
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) is performing a very encouraging
business in Assam. The Guwahati Division of LICI came to be a constituent
unit of the Corporation with Branch Office at Guwahati, Nagaon, Jorhat,
Tezpur, Dibrugarh, Digboi, Dhubri, Silchar and Sub-Offices at Sibasagar,
Tinsukia, and Karimganj. Due to increase in the volume of business
the bifurcation took place with creation of its Jorhat, Silchar and
Bongaigaon Divisions. The total number of Policies involved as on
31.3.2003 were 866060 and the sum assured against these Policies amounted
to Rs.5224.91 crore. The number of policies has increased from 760019
during 2001-2002 to 866060 during 2002-2003 and the sum assured has
also increased to Rs.5224.91 crore during 2002-2003 from Rs.5197.96
crore during 2001-2002 thereby registering marginal increase by 0.52
per cent. Besides the normal insurance activities, the LIC is also
engaged in investing and extending loans of a sizeable amount in the
State of Assam. The Table 18.9 shows the performance
of LICI in Assam during 2002-2003. |
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