Tripura Gramin Bank Posts Profit for 12th Straight Year, Despite Economic Slowdown

AGARTALA: In spite of the COVID-induced economic slowdown, the Tripura Gramin Bank (TGB), one of the leading banks among the 43 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in India, registered a profit for the 12th straight year with a net gain of Rs 3.62 crore in the last fiscal (2022-23) and doing over Rs 11,271.92 crore of business, a top bank official said here on Thursday. The TGB Chairman, Satyendra Singh, said that as of March 2023, his bank registered an operating profit of Rs 23.62 crore with a net profit of Rs 3.62 crore.

A senior bank official said that the TGB's net profit was Rs 143.14 crore and its operating profit was Rs 282.40 crore in the 2021–22 fiscal. "Due to the economic recession across the world and the absence of major and medium industrial and entrepreneurial projects in Tripura, the bank's profit reduced in the last financial year," the official said. "Total business of the TGB grew by 7.04 per cent, which is Rs 11,271.92 crore on March 31, 2023, against Rs 10,530.77 crore in the 2021–22 fiscal," he told the media.

The TGB, which has 148 branches and 15 ultra-small branches across Tripura, wiped out the entire accumulated loss of Rs 139.40 crore in the financial year 2012-13 by registering a net profit year-on-year. Singh said that compared to the 2021–22 fiscal year, the bank's deposit increased by 3.94 per cent and the advance increased by 15.54 per cent in the last financial year. According to the official, the TGB's credit deposit ratio increased from 36.44 per cent to 40.50 per cent in the 2022–23 FY.

The CD ratio of the nationalized banks in Tripura is 55 per cent. The TGB under the Punjab National Bank (earlier United Bank of India) disbursed a substantial amount of Rs 1,235.57 crore under different lending schemes during the 2022–23 financial years. With 50 per cent undertaking by the Government of India, 35 per cent by PNB, and 15 per cent by the Tripura government, the bank also reduced its non-performing asset (NPA) from 190.62 crore as of March 2022 to Rs 165.62 crore as of March this year.

The TGB Chairman said that the bank would have made more profit and business had there been no COVID-induced situation and related economic recession. He said that the bank started its journey 47 years ago with a total deposit of Rs 2.82 lakh and an advance of Rs 1.70 lakh, with a total business of Rs 4.52 lakh. He said that as the TGB has been operating mostly in rural areas and there is no big industry in Tripura. Singh said that till March 31 (2023), the per-employee business stood at Rs 12.85 crore, which is much higher than the PSU banks, adding that his bank is now well capitalized among the 43 RRBs operating in the country.

The bank, which covers over 75 per cent of Tripura's population, mostly in the rural and interior areas, has 33 ATMs. The TGB has been implementing all flagship programmes of the Central government, including the PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Kisan Credit Card, Mudra Loan, etc. To support self-employment and self-help groups, the bank provides advances in dairy, piggery, poultry, fishery, and many other small trades and businesses. The 43 RRBs are operating with a network of around 21,800 branches covering 685 districts in 26 states. (IANS)

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