Atiur joins Bandhan Bank inauguration

Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated India’s newest bank, Bandhan Bank Ltd, in a ceremony in Kolkata attended by regulators, policy makers and luminaries from financial sector and corporate India on Sunday. Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman was also present. Bandhan has evolved from a micro-finance entity and its founder Chandrasekhar Ghosh says his role model is BRAC's founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. Ghosh started-off managing his family sweet shop in Bishalgarh near Tripura capital Agartala before studying in Bangladesh and working with BRAC, after which he moved to West Bengal and started Bandhan as a micro-credit entity.
Bandhan commenced its operations as a universal bank on Sunday with 501 branches, 2022 service centres and 50 ATMs across 24 Indian states.  It plans to have 632 branches and 250 ATMs in 27 states by the end of 2016 fiscal. It starts with 14.3 million  accounts and around Rs 10,500 crore loan book. It has 19,500 employees. Over 71 per cent of the branches will be in rural India and at least 35% in unbanked rural pockets. State-wise, West Bengal has the maximum number of branches 220, followed by Bihar 67, Assam 60, Maharashtra 21, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura 20 each, and Jharkhand 15.
The Kolkata-headquartered bank has two divisions—micro banking and general banking—and will offer complete retail financial solutions, including a variety of savings and loan schemes.
The savings bank account interest rate has been fixed at 4.25% for balance up to Rs 100,000 and 5 % for balance above Rs 100,000. For term deposits, the maximum interest rate has been fixed at 8.5 % for one to three years, with an additional 0.5% for senior citizens.
The Reserve Bank of India’s licensing norms stipulate that a new bank must have at least Rs 5 billion capital.   
 Against this, Bandhan starts with Rs 25.7 billion capital which will soon be ramped up close to Rs 30.52 billion. This translates into 44.54 % capital to risk weighted assets ratio or CRAR for the new bank, signifying its robustness.
"Bengal is known for producing several intellectuals, but no entrepreneurs. The launch of Bandhan Bank will not just boost the growth of Bengali entrepreneurs, but  signify the return of entrepreneurs to West Bengal,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
“The eastern states including eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and the north-eastern states have the potential to raise the GDP rate of India. The Central Government will support any initiative like that of Bandhan Bank that can lead to enhanced growth rate and prosperity of the nation.”
Chandrashekhar Ghosh, Founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bandhan Bank said,
“Our business philosophy is `customer first’. We are a universal bank and we will have equal respect all our customers – big and small. "
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, said, Bandhan started with the twin objectives of women empowerment and poverty eradication.
"With a repayment record of 99 per cent, the organisation has been successful in its objectives. Now, the challenge for Bandhan Bank is to push Bengal’s credit deposit rate from around 68 per cent to the national average of over 76 per cent,” according to bdnews24.com.
- biplab