SBH offers liberal loans to builders

Vijayawada: The State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) is set to open 10 more branches in Krishna district during the current financial year, said the Bank's Deputy General Manager, KG Venkatesh Reddy.

Speaking to the media at the builders meet here on Tuesday, Venkatesh Reddy said that the bank has a network of 44 branches standing third in the district after Andhra Bank and State Bank of India. He further said that the bank had done Rs 3,000 crore business during the last financial year, of which Rs 1800 crore is in the form of deposits and Rs 1200 crore lending. The bank had set a business target of Rs 4,000 crore this year, he said.

He said that the bank has decided to extend housing loans on priority basis and was extending loans to individuals and builders. The bank will take builders' projects as units and would finance both the builder as well as the customers, he added.

He said that the bank's General Manager and Deputy General Manager rank posts, which were hitherto located in Visakhapatnam, have been shifted to Vijayawada now, making the process of transactions simple and fast. He said that the bank would now process every application in the city and clear them at minimum possible time.

The bank's Assistant General Manager, K Ruchira, said that the bank had extended around Rs 54 crore towards housing loan during the last financial year in the city for 457 applicants. This year, the bank has set a target of Rs 200 crore under housing loan through it's 16 branches network in the city, she added. She further said that they were in close contact with the builders to promote building activity around the city.

The city has a great potential for housing, particularly on MG Road upto Vuyyuru and on Eluru Road beyond Gannavaram.

The SBH Assistant General Manager, Y Satayanarayana, who was also present at the builders' meet, said that the bank has done its bit of social responsibility by taking up construction of houses in the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). When asked about repayment of loans by the beneficiaries of JNNURM, he said that they would not consider the project on business lines. However, he said that they were motivating the beneficiaries to pay their dues to the bank.

The Builders Association of Vijayawada president, Y V Ramana Rao, said that the building activity was encouraging and was stable in the city. "There was no boom or slump ever in the district. The city has good potential buyers," he added. The Builders Association secretary, K Rajendra was also present.

The bank extended open invitation to builders and individual house owners to approach the bank for finance and assured that the applications would be cleared in shortest possible time.