Despite the economic recession taking out the steam of realty sector in many places, including metros across the country, the housing sector remains robust in Madurai district, if the business done by the State Bank of India is anything to go by.
According to top officials in the Madurai Region of the country’s largest bank, the housing and car loans portfolios remain strong.
Regional Manger G. Ramanujam told The Hindu that a loan mela held here recently showcasing all SBI products ranging from home loans, deposits and cross-selling products attracted over 3,000 visitors.
Buoyed by the response to the earlier loan mela held between June 5 and 7, he said that another major loan mela would be held from September 18 to 20 at two locations simultaneously – at the Gandhi Memorial Museum grounds and GRT Mahal at Andalpuram.
While the camp at the museum grounds would be a multi-product one offering various products, the other would focus only on home and car segments. “SBI offers very competitive rates and does not charge processing fee at present. So, the market in Madurai region is still very strong for us,” he said.
Publicity blitz
The public sector major will also be undertaking a publicity blitz to popularise its schemes. “We have a separate effort budget apart from the regular business budget. Further, like Union Ministries, we also have 100-day plans that would be run one after the other,” he said.
Door-to-door campaigns were already under way at large residential colonies in the city. During these drives, on-the-spot opening of bank accounts was also done.
The bank was also planning to visit major government undertakings such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, District Forest Office and Government Hospitals to market its schemes.
The bank is to open three more branches within this fiscal, taking the total number of branches in the region to 45. A minimum of 60 new Automated Teller Machines would also be set up before the end of this financial year, said Mr. Ramanujam.