Canara Bank is expanding the branch network in 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

It is adding 28 more branches to the 260 existing branches and 314 ATMs, according to General Manager P. Sayi Babu.

He said here in an interview on Wednesday, after a review meeting with local branch officials, that a circle office had been set up in Vijayawada and efforts would be made to reach out to all parts of the State, with focus on retail banking.

He said credit off-take was not so encouraging in view of the prevailing economic conditions in the country but still efforts were being made to improve the performance of the bank.

Provisioning norms had also made it difficult for the bank, he added.

However, there was remarkable recovery in the current financial year and a net profit of Rs 229 crore could be achieved.

The bank was aiming at a business volume of Rs 8,50,000 crore by the end of the current financial year against Rs 7,86,597 crore by the end of March, of which Rs 4,65,314 crore was deposits.

In Andhra Pradesh, the target was Rs 22,000 crore against Rs 18,372 crore, of which Rs 8,159 crore was deposits and the rest advances.

In response to a question, Sayi Babu said the net NPA was 5.7 per cent and all efforts were being made to bring it down to acceptable levels. The bank was taking up a door-to-door campaign for the retail business and there would be no processing fees till January 26, 2017.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

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