The Gujarat Urban Cooperative Banks’ Federation (GUCBF), the apex body for 244 UCBs in the State, has recommended to its member banks to utilise the facilities offered by NPAsource.com, an NPA managing portal, to resolve problems associated with their non-performing assets.
These 244 UCBs have accumulated NPAs of nearly Rs 1,000 crore, Mr Devendra Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of Atishya Group, owner of the portal launched last year, told presspersons here on Monday. Besides the 244 UCBs, there are also 50 defaulted UCBs.
He said that GUCBF tied up with NPAsource.com last week.
The 244 UCBs, having 862 branches, had deposits of Rs 21,668 crore and advances of Rs 12,057 crore, as on March 31, 2011.
In India, about 10 per cent of all banking transactions are done by cooperative banks. As against this, 20 per cent of all banking transactions are carried out by the UCBs in Gujarat. Consequently, NPAs in Gujarat are also correspondingly higher, mostly in trading finance and property purchase. Industry finance-related NPAs in Gujarat are not much, Mr Jain said.
Between its launch in August 2011 and March 31 this year, NPAsource.com helped resolve NPAs worth Rs 1,000 crore. The portal is opening an office in Dubai this month for foreign investors and bankers.
After Maharashtra, Gujarat has the largest number of cooperative banks in India. With over 89 lakh depositors having Rs 21,668 crore of deposits, the financial health of these cooperative banks is vital to the economic growth of Gujarat, he added.