Due to prudent financial management, the bank could slash its NPA from 4.7 to 2.29 per cent. The net NPA has become zero after it is brought down from Rs 140 crore to Rs 76 crore. VCB stood fourth in India among 151 urban cooperative banks in share capital, VCB Chairman Ch Raghavendra Rao told Bizz Buzz

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam Cooperative Bank Limited (VCB), one of the oldest banks in the cooperative sector set up in 1916, has achieved a turnover (provisional) of Rs 7,350 crore with deposits amounting to Rs 4,150 crore during 2023-24. The bank is expecting classification as a scheduled bank by the Reserve Bank of India anytime after August. At its 108th AGM, VCB had declared a dividend of 12 per cent after expressing satisfaction over achieving a turnover of Rs 7,026 crore during 2022-23.

VCB Chairman Chalasani Raghavendra Rao told

Bizz Buzz in an exclusive interview that there is an increase of share capital by Rs 47 crore during 2023-24, the highest since inception of the bank. The share capital has mounted to Rs 352 crore, which he said, is the fourth largest in India in 2023-24. In 2024-25, the bank is aiming to become 3rd largest in India. The top three banks in the cooperative sector are Mahasena Urban Cooperative Bank, Cosmos Cooperative Bank and Saraswat Cooperative Bank.

Rao said the bank has excelled in all parameters due to adherence to fiscal discipline and good governance with periodical monitoring. VCB’s cash deposit ratio is rated to be very high with own lands of over 70 per cent, which have contributed to improving the profitability. It increased from the previous year’s Rs 73 crore to Rs 87 crore in 2023-24.

The bank will be holding branch-wise general body meetings on May 20 and review its performance at the annual general body meeting of the shareholders on June 10 to approve the financial results. Rao disclosed that RBI has granted permission to open five new branches after a gap of six years, of which Sheela Nagar branch will be opened before the AGM. Other branches will be launched at Tadepalligudem, Narasaraopet, Chittoor and Bapatla, across Andhra Pradesh during the year.

The bank at present has 50 branches of which four are located in Hyderabad (Telangana) and the remaining are spread over Andhra Pradesh. During the year, the bank bought three properties, which include 890 square yards at Gopalapatnam from Canara Bank, 425 square yards at Gajuwaka (both in Visakhapatnam city) and ground floor admeasuring 3,000 sft in a building at Chodavaram.

Rao said due to prudent financial management, the bank could slash its NPA from 4.7 to 2.29 per cent. The net NPA, he said, has become zero after it is brought down from Rs 140 crore to Rs 76 crore. He said as per RBI data, VCB stood fourth in India among 151 urban cooperative banks in share capital.

“Our bank is excelling in all parameters except a few banks in Gujarat and Maharashtra,” he stated. The number of shareholders has also gone up from 97,000 to 1.04 lakh. He pointed out that this is 41st year without any interruption for VCB in giving dividend to the shareholders barring 2019-20 when due to Covid-19, RBI had imposed restrictions.