KFC sets higher loan target

June 22, 2011 08:15 pm | Updated 08:15 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:

The Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) has decided to enhance sanction of loans to Rs.1,000 crore and disbursement to Rs.800 crore during 2011-12, Finance Minister K.M. Mani has said.

Briefing presspersons about the performance of the company in 2010-11, Mr. Mani said the size of the portfolio would be enhanced to Rs.1,500 crore in two years, and to Rs.5,000 crore in the next five years. This would, in turn, ensure higher income and greater acceptability among industries. The corporation would also look to tie up alternative sources of funds from banks and the market in order to meet the enhanced requirement.

Lending to the manufacturing sector would be doubled from the present 25 per cent. It would continue to support tourism, hotels, and hospitals and pay similar attention to micro-enterprises and energy-saving and environment-friendly projects.

Mr. Mani said the company aimed at supporting ancillary units likely to come in the vicinity of proposed big projects such as the CNG pipeline, the railway wagon unit, a BEML Ltd. unit, and the Vizhinjam and the Vallarpadam projects.

The corporation had managed to bring down net non-performing assets (NPAs) to 1.89 per cent at the end of 2010-11 that was almost on a par with the banking sector. The achievement became even more significant given that the net NPAs ruled at an unconscionable high of 56.89 per cent as recently as in 2005-06. The company still had to contend with gross NPAs of 8.2 per cent (65.18 per cent in 2005-06), he said.

With a view to ensuring timely monitoring and nursing of projects and avoiding further slippages, the company had created a separate ‘stress assets category.' In deserving cases, assets falling under this category would be given an opportunity to restructure themselves, among other business-friendly initiatives on offer. A task force had been constituted to consider compromise settlement in respect of ‘hardcore' NPA cases that would enable their expedited settlement and recovery. Efforts were also being made to settle certain NPAs by referring them to asset management companies such as India SME Asset Reconstruction Company.

Mr. Mani said sector-specific value-added services ranging from consultancy to preparation of project report, rehabilitation studies, and hand-holding services would be promoted to consolidate fee-based income. KFC managing director K.M. Nair and senior officials were present.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.