According to a recent press report Mr. B.R. Bhat, General Manager, Corporation Bank said that the increasing income levels and shifting consumption pattern in rural areas are expected to provide an excess of opportunities to lenders and industries.
Mr. B.R. Bhat in his speech at national conference on ‘Banking towards strengthening rural India: New paradigms and directions,’ organised by the Association of Mangalore University College Teachers at Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada district said that rural India represents a large and fast-growing market for many goods and services and that the rural consumption market is likely to reach $ 600 billion by 2020, from the current level of $ 190 billion.
He also said that out of the six lakh habitations in the country, only about 30,000 habitations have a commercial bank branch. He said that the integration between rural and urban areas has increased with the increase in mobility but the progress is very uneven in different parts of the country.
He said that it was difficult for banks to expand in all areas of rural India because of various infrastructure problems, and they will have to valve the reach of mobile services to provide value-added services. On challenges of providing credit in rural areas, he said the supply of formal credit to rural areas is inadequate.
Corporation bank has recently revised its Base Rate for lending from 10.25% per annum to 10.65% per annum. The bank offers home loans, personal loan, business loan, education loan etc.