By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The Kerala government will soon establish a new bank, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac says.
The state government has cleared the idea, but the modalities were still being considered, Isaac told IANS.
“We have two options, either to take over an existing bank or float a new one with clearance from the Reserve Bank of India,” the minister said.
He expects the state-owned Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) Ltd to take the lead in this effort. The new bank could be a subsidiary of KSFE, he said.
“The capital requirement for a bank is around Rs.3.5 billion and at present KSFE has reserves of Rs.1.5 billion. KSFE has strong fundamentals and you wait and see. It will not be long before the state government has its own bank,” added Isaac.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank is helping Isaac achieve his dream. The chairman of that bank is Isaac’s former student, Haseeb Drabhu.
“Don’t forget that we have a very strong non-resident Keralite community across the globe. We bank our hopes on them when floating the proposed bank. We are certain that these expatriates will provide us the financial impetus when it comes to subscribing shares for the new bank,” the minister maintained.
There are well over two million expatriate Keralites.
According to the latest State Level Bankers Committee Report here, the expatriates have deposited a record Rs.319.95 billion in banks, which is 34.56 percent of total deposits in all banks in Kerala.