News: ICICI Bank to increase rural lending

(BL 05/07/2006) Kolkata - Country's largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank is eyeing rural India for increasing exposure in view of the huge demand for credit stemming from these parts.

The demand for credit in the rural markets was Rs 1.5 lakh crore, while supply was only Rs 4,000 crore, Nachiket Mor, Deputy Managing Director, ICICI Bank, said on the sidelines of banking conclave here today.

The bank has set up 8,000 'touch points' across the country for penetrating rural pockets and was developing low-priced ATMs. IIT Chennai is working on the technology for this purpose, he said.

The bank had disbursed Rs 2,500 crore towards rural sector financing and was expecting good rural credit off-take in the current year, Mor said. The bank had also rolled out 'Ashan' ATMs for the urban and semi-urban markets in India.