Mangaluru : The South Canara District Central Cooperative (SCDCC) Bank has registered a profit of Rs. 23.75 crore in 2015-16, the highest ever so far in the history of the bank, even as it has clocked a turnover of Rs. 5,548.58 crore during the year.

Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, bank president M.N. Rajendra Kumar said that the profit had been increasing for the past several years. It was Rs. 12.05 crore in 2011-12, Rs. 17.74 crore in 2012-13, Rs. 18.28 crore in 2013-14 and Rs. 19.81 crore in 2014-15.

Asked how the bank was able to post profit when almost all commercial banks had posted loss in the last fiscal, Mr. Rajendra Kumar attributed this to robust loan repayment. Non-performing assets were in the range of 4.2 per cent, he said.

Mr. Rajendra Kumar claimed that the bank had registered high profit even after lending cheaper loans to farmers and most of its profit came from loans lent to other sectors. The bank had advanced Rs. 2,790.16 crore loan in the last fiscal, including Rs. 911.5 crore to the agriculture sector, he said.

He said that had the government promptly reimbursed Rs. 123 crore interest subsidy, which was pending for many years, the bank’s profits would have been much higher all these years. Mr. Rajendra Kumar claimed that SCDCC Bank had been the saviour of farmers in the undivided Dakshina Kannada district as it had been lending advances according to their requirement. No farmer had gone back when in need, he said. It was because the bank had own funds, unlike other DCC banks and would not wait for reimbursement of 40 per cent advances by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

As such, there had been no farmers’ suicide in these two districts, he claimed. Mr. Rajendra Kumar said that the bank had been giving Rupay Kissan Credit Cards to farmers having Mangala Kissan Credit Card accounts in primary agriculture societies in the two districts. So far, 55,440 such cards had been distributed even as 25,651 Rupay debit cards had been issued to other account holders.

The bank was also contemplating introducing Inter Banking Mobile Payment System through National Payment Corporation of India while internet banking facility would be launched soon. The bank would also open ATMs in all taluk headquarters under its jurisdiction, he said.

Directors of the bank, chief executive officer M. Vishwanath Nayar and Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies B.K. Salim were present.