‘Confident RBI will lift sanctions on bank’

Panaji: With a 5.90 crore profit in the April to August period, Madgaum Urban Co-operative Bank is confident of getting the sanctions imposed on it by the Reserve Bank of India lifted within three weeks, chairman Ramakant Angle said.
The shareholders of the bank met on Sunday for the annual general meeting where the bank’s audit and budget was put up for approval along with the decision to appoint the auditors for the next year.
“The government wants us to abstain from taking action against the mining defaulters but the RBI sends us sanctions for not tackling the NPAs,” Angle said while explaining the bank’s predicament. “Our bank is in a strong position which shows in the 24 crore provisions made by us. They are not losses.” RBI recently issued directives to Madgaum Urban Co-operative bank preventing it from issuing fresh loans to customers. The bank has outstanding loans to the tune of 20 crore directly related to the mining sector through loans issued for barges, mining trucks and excavators. The total direct and indirect exposure to the mining sector stands at 45 crore through loans issued for housing, passenger vehicles and personal loans disbursed to individuals working in the mining sector.
“They are not defaulters. They just don’t have the money to service the loans,” Angle said. tnn