Dena Bank plans Rs 500 cr farm loans

Public sector Dena Bank is awaiting Crisil rating before deciding on its real estate funding strategy, bank's M V Rao, chief managing director said on Saturday. Upon getting the rating, the bank would disburse at least Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) worth of housing loans, he said.

The bank, enthused by the success of its agricultural lending programme, has decided to step up agriculture credit by Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) this year, in addition to the Rs 662 crore (Rs 6.62 billion) disbursed last year.

As a part of its continued emphasis on agriculture credit, Dena Bank has recruited 100 agricultural officers and plans to engage local youth as 'Rural Financial Facilitators' to market the credit, Nair said.

The bank, which has major presence in Gujarat and Maharashtra, has already put in place a new delivery mechanism for agriculture credit, he said.

The other focus area of the bank was small and medium industries, Nair said, adding that it had tied-up with SIDBI and planned lot of initiatives on this front. The bank also has tie-ups with LIC and Oriental general insurance company for selling financial products, through which it hoped to earn substantial income.

The process of entering into a tie-up with some mutual funds including LIC, UTI and Fidelity was also on cards, Nair said. Dena Bank inaugurated 'FinMarts', its retail banking boutique in Karnataka on Saturday.