Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the review meeting in Chennai on Friday with the chairpersons and senior officials of the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in the southern region.
The meeting was also attended by the Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Union Ministry of Finance, and senior officials of the Reserve Bank of India, with representation by the Finance/Special Secretaries/senior officers of the Finance Department of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Puducherry and Karnataka. The MDs and CEOs of State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and NABARD also attended the meeting.
Ms. Sitharaman stressed that RRBs should continue their focus on the flagship schemes of the Central government such as PM Jan Dhan Yojana, PM Mudra Yojana and PM SVANidhi. She noted that in credit-deposit ratio, Gross NPAs and Provision Coverage Ratio, the RRBs in the southern region fared better than the national average.
Ms. Sitharaman called for improving the current and savings account ratio of RRBs. She said RRBs should focus on increasing digitally active customers in line with the government’s effort to move towards greater digitalisation. RRBs in the southern region should work closely with the RBI and the State authorities to improve their physical presence across the States, she said.
Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman, The Sanmar Group, and Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of TVS Capital Funds, called on the Union Finance Minister during her Chennai visit.
