UBI to set up banking in 4000 villages by 2012

Kolkata : State-owned financial services company United Bank of India on Sunday announced plans of entering 4,341 villages, currently without banking services, by March 2012.

Bhaskar Sen, Chairman of UBI, said that branches will be opened in 45 villages and the remaining villages will be covered by information and Communication technologies solutions through business correspondent models.

He was speaking at the inauguration by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of a Credit Delivery Camp organised by the Kolkata-headquartered bank at Debkundu, Beldanga in West Bengal?s Murshidabad District on Sunday.

To mark the occasion, loans for a total amount of ?Rs 18.65 crores were sanctioned primarily for the benefit of the local farmers and small scale entrepreneurs.

Mukherjee lauded the bank for its efforts in accelerating the flow of credit to different priority areas of the government and expressed hope more bank finance should flow to the agriculture sector.