Canara Bank playing pivotal role in granting Education loans: Chidambaram

By Deepak Arora

CHENNAI, Sept 28: While underlining the importance of education in the progress of the nation, Union Minister of Finance P. Chidambaram has appreciated the pivotal role Canara bank is playing in granting education loans to the needy and underprivileged children from the lower sections of the society by adopting a very simple and hassle free process.

Speaking at an “Education & Rural Loans Utsav” of Canara Bank at Arni on Saturday, Mr Chidambaram handed over the sanction letters to the beneficiaries and also disbursed the free scholarships under the CSR activity.

Canara Bank’s Chennai Circle with 182 branches under its jurisdiction organized the “Education & Rural Loans Utsav” at Arni. Loans were disbursed to beneficiaries from seven districts viz., Chennai, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Vellore and Andaman & Nicobar Islands and branches in Puducherry City.

The Bank sanctioned 6,600 Education Loans totaling to the tune of 131 crore, 10,000 Agriculture/ Self Help Group Loans amounting to 25 crore and 2,004 Micro and Small Enterprises Loans to the tune of 46 crore. In all, 18,600 loans aggregating 202 crore were sanctioned on the same day.

On the same occasion, as part of Canara Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Chennai Circle donated RO Plant to schools which were devoid of drinking water facility. Further, under the Canara Bank Vidya Jyothi, a CSR initiative undertaken by the Bank, 28 girl students belonging to SC/ST community were provided with free scholarship amounting to 1.10 lakh.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr M Krishnaswamy, Member of Parliament, Arni Constituency, appreciated the bank in extending banking facilities in unbanked and under banked areas.

Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey briefly described the various products of the Bank and efforts of the bank in promoting an all inclusive growth.

Mr Vishawanathan, Member of Parliament, Kancheepuram was also present on the occasion.

Mr A K Gupta, Executive Director, Mr G V Manimaran, Director and Mr RM Meenakshisundaram, General Manager, Chennai Circle, Mr S S Bhat, General Manager, Head Office, Mr Ramesh Kumar, General Manager, Coimbatore Circle and Mr S Krishnakumar, General Manager, Trichy Circle were present on the occasion.

Canara Bank launches two new housing schemes for NRIs, HNIs

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Sept 23: Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey on Monday launched two new housing schemes for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and High Networth Individuals (HNIs), in a bid to cash in on the festive fervour.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dubey said Canara Bank has products for every segment of society. He said with the rupee depreciating a lot, the NRIs want to invest in India. The were now seeking to invest in the housing sector in India. The enquiries with regard to housing loans from NRIs with builders have grown by 20 per cent at present.

The Chairman said the Premium Housing Loan scheme is exclusively for HNIs having gross annual income of at least Rs 25 lakh and the minimum loan being offered by the bank is Rs 1 crore.

For NRIs, he said, the quantum would be four times their gross annual income as compared to two times hitherto.

The minimum loan amount under the scheme is Rs 1 crore and the rate of interest charged would be 10.05 per cent.

Mr Dubey said Canara Bank is offering one of the lowest interest rates under Housing Loan and vehicle loan. Processing charges for both the schemes have been waived till October 31, he added.

Home loan of up to Rs 30 lakh would be available to an NRI at the base rate of 9.95 per cent, while loans in the bracket of Rs 30-75 lakh will be available at a rate of 10 per cent. Loans of above Rs 75 lakh would attract Rs 10.20 per cent.

The function was attended by Mr V S Krishna Kumar and Mr P S Rawat, Executive Directors, all the directors of the Board of the Bank, Mr R R Sharma, Chief General Manager, Mr T Sreekanthan, General Manager and other dignitaries.

Dubey inagurates Canara Bank's training institute in Shimoga

SHIMOGA, Sept 27: Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.K.Dubey, inaugurated the upgraded campus, new building block of Canara Bank Rural Self
Employment Training Institute at Holalur (Shimoga) on Friday in the presence of Mr Ayanur Manjunath, M.P. (Rajya Sabha).

On this occasion, 25 new ATMs, one e-lounge at Shimoga, one new branch, two financial literacy centres were also inaugurated.

General Managers Mr S.S.Bhat and Mr R. Madhusudan from Head Office were present on the occasion. The grand and uniquely organized function was attended by over 1200 persons.

Mr M. M. Chiniwar, Deputy General Manager, C.O. Shimoga guided the proceedings.

A grand Agricultural, Retail and MSME Expos were inaugurated by the Chairman and Managing Director R.K.Dubey at RSETI campus, Holalur.

More than 30 outlets/stalls were set up by the vendors in these expos.

A K Gupta inagurates Canara bank branch at Ramasagara

RAMASAGARA, Sept 25: Canara Bank Executive Director Mr A K Gupta opened a new branch at Ramasagara on Wednesday.

Mr Gupta inaugurated the new branch in the presence of Mr Ravindra Bhandary, General Manager, Canara Bank, Bangalore Metro Circle.

This is the 166th branch of Canara Bank Bangalore Metro Circle.

R K Dubey inaugurates Retail, MSME Agri Loan Mahotsav at Gulbarga

GULBARGA, Sept 25: Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director Mr R K Dubey inaugurated the Retail, MSME & Agri Loan Mahotsav held in Kannada Bhavan Gulbarga on Wednesday.

Many car dealers had put up their stalls and displayed their brand new cars of various models. Builders also set up their stalls and displayed their Ventures.

In the same Venue, Canara Bazaar was also held and many SHGs hailing from Gulbarga, Bijapur, Sedam, Chittapur displayed their products including Bidri artworks of Bidar district and stone carving works of Lokapur.

Entrepreneurs trained by RUDSETI Bijapur also displayed their products. Dealers engaged in Agri-implements, fertilizers & pesticides, Polygreen House, Vermi-compost, solar lighting, horticulture crops also put up their stalls.

Canara Bank financed entrepreneurs including women entrepreneurs displayed various products including readymade garments & art works, food products etc.

Our MSME training institutes including RUDSETI Bijapur displayed their training events schedules and brochures. MSME and Retail stalls were put up during the Mahotsav.

Addressing the entrepreneurs, Mr R K Dubey announced that sanctions to the tune of Rs. 121 crores to 16,032 beneficiaries under various MSME, Agri & Retail segments by various branches of Gulbarga circle.

The Chairman and Managing Director also handed over sanctions to 20 beneficiaries under various Loan Schemes.

The CMD announced that the number of branches in the Gulbarga circle will be 75 by March 2014 from present 56 and to 100 by March 2015. The number of ATM will be also increased from 31 presently to 75 by March 14 and 150 by March 2015.

In the Mahotsav, Mr R Madhusudan, GM MSME Wing HO, Mr S Ramesh, GM RRB & LB Wing HO, Mr G S Iyer, GM, CO, Hyderabad, Mr M Nagaraju, DGM RA Wing HO, Mr M G Bhat, Chairman, PKG Bank, Mr B M Rao, DGM CO Gulbarga were also present.

More than 500 Entrepreneurs were present in the inaugural session.

Mahotsav has generated many business enquiries/leads and helped the public to know various schemes of Canara Bank.

Canara Bank organises Builders' meet

BANGALORE, Sept 24: Canara Bank, a nationalised Bank, organised a Builders' Meet through its Bangalore Metro Circle Office here on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by over 100 reputed builders.

Mr R K Dubey Chairman and Managing Director of the Bank, addressed the builders.

Present on the occasion were Mr A.K Gupta and Mr V K Krishna Kumar, Executive Directors of the Bank, Mr R R Sharma, Chief General Manager, Head Office and Mr Ravindra Bhandary, General Manager of Bangalore Metro Circle.

Canara CMD Dubey inaugurates 3 Lead Bank offices and 2 e-Lounges in Delhi; Says bank not to hike rates for now

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Sept 21: Canara Bank is not looking to increase its lending or deposit rates for now. The RBI had hiked its repo rate — rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks — by 25 basis points on Friday, according to Mr R. K. Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank.

“There is no proposal to hike the base rate”, said Mr Dubey here on Saturday after the inauguration of new Lead Bank offices at three Lead Districts —New Delhi, Central Delhi and West Delhi and two e-Lounges at Raja Garden branch and Government Business Branch at Janpath.

Base rate is the rate below which a bank cannot lend. Canara Bank’s base rate is currently at 9.95 per cent. It was brought down from 10.25 per cent to 9.95 per cent in July.

Present at the inauguration of three Lead Bank offices were Delhi Divisional Commissioner Dharampal, New Delhi District Magistrate Ameya Abhayankar, RBI General Manager Sonali Sengupta, Convener SLBC Delhi and OBC General Manager Vidyavathi Rudra, Canara Bank Executive Director P S Rawat and General Manager Sreekanthan and senior officials and members of the public.

Till recently, districts in metropolitan areas were kept out of the purview of lead bank schemes. Considering the financial exclusion in metropolitan areas, RBI had in July 2013 had assigned lead bank responsibilities in such areas to various banks. Canara Bank was allotted three districts in Delhi.

Prior to this, Mr Dubey said Canara Bank was having lead bank responsibilities in 26 lead districts spread across five States with eight Lead Districts in Karnataka, seven in Tamil Nadu, five in Kerala, five in Uttar Pradesh and one in Bihar. Canara Bank is also SLBC Convenor in the state of Kerala.

RBI’s lead bank scheme was introduced in 1969 to designate banks with responsibility of identifying growth centres, assessing deposit potential and credit gaps and evolving a coordinated approach to credit deployment in each district.

The scheme also envisaged active participation of all the stake holders’ ie Financial institutions, RBI, NABARD, the District Administration, State and Central Government Departments for the overall economic development of the district.

Mr Dubey informed that Canara Bank has posted the executives of Divisional Manager cadre to head the Lead Bank offices with adequate infrastructure and manpower.

He said “we have established RUDSETI/ RSETIs in all our Lead Districts to impart training to unemployed youth for taking up the self employment ventures. We have also established financial literacy centres in all our Lead Districts to create awareness and educate the people in rural and urban areas with regard to various financial products and services available from the formal financial sector.

He said Delhi being the capital of the country has wide economic opportunities and people from various parts of the country move to Delhi in search of jobs leaving their families in native states. “It offers scope for opening of accounts of such migrant labourers and offer remittance facilities to them.”

“There are pockets in Delhi having concentration of urban poor such a street hawkers, manual labourers etc necessitating implementation of various initiatives of urban financial inclusion such as opening of basic savings accounts, extending in-built overdraft facilities, funds transfer facilities and providing micro insurance.”

Mr Dubey said the State Government and UIDAI have proactively participated and ensured over 90 per cent Aadhaar enrolement in Delhi. With Aadhaar, it has become all the easier for the urban poor for opening of accounts, as it is one of the accepted KYC documents.

He said DBT LPG will be implemented in Delhi from January 1, 2014. He asked LDM to coordinate with Banks, oil marketing companies and LPG dealers for opening accounts and ensure seeding of Aadhaar details with banks so as to ensure seamless credit of LPG subsidy to their accounts. He asked LDMs to take immediate steps and plan all the activities for creating public awareness, collection of aadhaar seeding requests and seeding at banks.

Dubey expressed confidence over the bank achieving a net interest margin of 2.3 per cent this fiscal. This is despite headwinds such as volatility in G-sec rates and increased provisioning towards stressed assets.

Jawahar Thakur & R K Dubey inaugurate Canara Bank e-Lounge at Government Business branch

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Sept 21: The E-lounge at Government Business Branch at Janpath here was inaugurated here on Saturday Mr Jawahar Thakur, Controller General of Accounts, and Mr R K Dubey, Chairman & Managing Director. and Mr P S Rawat, Executive Director.

Present on the occasion were Mr Dushyant Singh, Chief Secutity Officer, Home Ministry, Government of India, Canara Bank's Executive Director, Mr P S Rawat, and General Manager Mr T Sreekanthan, Deputy General Manager Ashok Aggarwak and other senior officials.

Mr Dharampal Naik, Deputy General Manager of Government Business Branch Delhi thanked the invitees on this occasion.

Chiarman and Managing Director R K Dubey said that Canara bank was planning to expand its e-Louge network to 100 and later to 1000 in the next few years.

He said the bank was looking to expand its network to 4,500 branches by the end of the current fiscal.

Mr Dubey said Canara Bank, from a humble beginning in 1906, has grown as one of the largest commercial banks in the country with a network of 4,101 branches and an almost equal number of ATMs of 3,961. “We have opened 350 branches so far this financial year. We will open another 350 before this fiscal end.”

Besides large domestic presence, he said the Bank has five overseas branches – one each at London and Leicester in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China and Manama in Bahrain.

He said the Bank has a total business of Rs 6.45 lakh crore including the addition of Rs 45,000 crore during the current fiscal year. He said the Delhi Circle has contributed more than Rs 90,000 crore with the support of the Central and State Governments and public.

Americas Petrogas Announces Strategic Review

CALGARY (Alberta), Sept 18: Americas Petrogas Inc. has announced that, following recent success of its ongoing Vaca Muerta Shale exploration program and recent industry enquiries concerning potential business opportunities, its Board of Directors has authorized management to commence a process to review strategic alternatives for maximizing shareholder value.

The Company has engaged Jefferies LLC as its sole financial advisor as it considers a range of strategic alternatives, potentially including joint venture(s) on one or more of its 14 operated blocks covering more than 2,000,000 acres, a sale of specific assets, a sale or merger of the Company, as well as continued execution of the Company’s business plan.

Barclay Hambrook, President and CEO, commented, “Given the sustained progress and strong commitment of industry to the Vaca Muerta Shale trend, and Americas Petrogas’ several recent operational achievements, we believe now is an appropriate time for the Company to explore strategic alternatives to unlock shareholder value. We selected Jefferies to assist us due to its broad expertise and market leadership in shale transactions.”

During its strategic review, Americas Petrogas will continue to aggressively de-risk and operate a majority of its leading Vaca Muerta Shale position in the Neuquén Basin, to expand its application of unconventional drilling technology, and to exploit its large inventory of attractive conventional projects through ongoing development drilling.

The Company does not intend to comment further regarding the evaluation of strategic alternatives, unless a specific transaction or process is concluded, or it otherwise deems further disclosure is appropriate or required. There can be no assurance that this review will result in the Company pursuing any transaction or that a transaction, if pursued, will be completed.

Americas Petrogas Inc. is a Canadian company whose shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BOE". Americas Petrogas has conventional and unconventional shale oil and gas and tight sands oil and gas interests in numerous blocks in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina.

Americas Petrogas has joint venture partners, including ExxonMobil and Apache, on various blocks in the shale oil and gas corridor in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Ryder Scott Company of Houston has completed an independent report dated June 30, 2013 for the Company estimating recoverable resources of 8.3 Billion Barrels of oil Equivalent, or BOE.

France looking to tap solar energy market

CHENNAI, Sept 20: A delegation of leading French companies specialising in solar energy, led by Ambassador of France to India Francois Richier, held discussions with officials of the Energy Department on Friday to explore investment possibilities in the backdrop of the government’s solar power policy.

Among various other measures to push for solar energy in the State, the decision by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) in asking HT and LT industries to meet six per cent of their demand through solar energy from January 1 next year is expected to create a demand to the tune of 1,000 MW.

The State government utility, according to Energy secretary Rajesh Lakhoni, has even received letters of commitment from many developers to put up solar energy plants capable of generating to the tune of 698 MW.

He also added that the State hoped to reach a target of 3000 MW of installed solar power plants by the year 2015.

Leading companies from France – Areva Renewable, Fonroche, Sunpower India, Total and Solaire Direct – made presentations of their available solutions.

The industry benchmark for capital cost of a 1 MW solar power plant is in the range of Rs. 8 crore, something that the French companies said they could try and compete with.

French Ambassador Richier leads solar delegation to Tamil Nadu

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Sept 19: A ten-member delegation of French companies from the solar energy sector is in India to boost the ties between the two countries in the solar sector. The French Ambassador, Mr François Richier, is visiting Chennai on Friday with the delegation.

They will participate in a daylong seminar entitled, “Solar Energy: potential, means, technology” in the presence of Mr Rajesh Lakhoni, Secretary, Energy Department of Government of Tamil Nadu, as well as representatives of the State Electricity Board, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).

The visit of the delegation follows the idea discussed between the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, and Ambassador Richier when they met on June 12 last and spoke of energy issues and, in particular, the potential of solar energy.

On this occasion, a presentation of French expertise in this sector will be organised. Similar to India, France is interested in exploring the potential of renewable energy to replace fossil fuel-generating capabilities, as part of the energy transition process announced by the French authorities.

During this seminar, Ambassador Richier will be accompanied by the India Office head of the French Development Agency (AFD), as well as the managing directors of top French companies in the energy sector: Areva Renewable, Fonroche, Sunpower India/Total, and Solaire Direct. French energy technology is competitively priced and highly developed.

Representatives of other major French companies will also attend the seminar, French economic presence in Tamil Nadu being strong, with Michelin, Renault and Saint-Gobain, to name but a few, having opened huge manufacturing plants and R&D centres in Tamil Nadu over the last few years. This accounts for a considerable level of investments made by French companies in India (18 billion USD of French investments/stock in India).

Canara Bank sanctions 10,001 educational loans worth 296 crore

By Deepak Arora

TRICHY, Sept 14: Canara Bank, one of the premier banks in India, organized a grand “Educational Loan Utsav” at Pudukkottai and sanctioned 10,001 educational loans with a total loan amount of Rs 296 crores. Students from Trichy, Pudukkottai, Tanjore, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Dindigal, karur, Namakkal, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thiruvarur and Karaikal districts have been sanctioned these Educational Loans. These loans are being disbursed through their 176 branches in Trichy Circle spread over 12 Districts.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram inaugurated the Educational Loan Utsav at Pudukkottai. The Finance Minister handed over the sanctions to students during the function held at Pudukkottai.

During the utsav, Educational Loans were granted to 1299 SC/ST, 1440 Minority Students apart from others. Totally they had extended loans to 6047 students pursuing Engineering, 684 students pursuing Medical, 455 students pursuing Management and 2815 students pursuing various other courses.

During the occasion, other loans like loans to Solar powered pumpset for agriculture, other agriculture, SME and retail loans were sanctioned to the extent of Rs.34 crores.

Chairman and managing Director of Canara Bank R.K.Dubey presided over the
utsav. V.S. Krishnakumar and P.S. Rawat, Executive Directors of Canara Bank, were present at the event and guided the successful conduct of the utsav. S.S Bhat, General Manager, was also present on the occasion.

S. Krishnakumar, General Manager of Trichy Circle, and Deputy Managers Sujatha Karunakaran and S Segaran coordinated the event.

Earlier in the morning, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had inaugurated a new branch of Canara Bank at Thirumayam in the presence of R.K.Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank. V.S. Krishnakumar and P.S. Rawat, Executive Directors of Canara Bank and S. Krishnakumar, General Manager of Trichy Circle were present.

During the inauguration function, the Finance Minister had handed over 108 loan sanctions including 41 Educational Loans and 67 other loans to economically weaker sections of the society.

Canara Bank has increased its branch strength to 4072.

Exports up 13 pc in August; trade gap dips to $11 billion

NEW DELHI, Sept 10: India's exports rose to a two year high of 13 percent in August on account of improved global situation, enabling trade deficit to fall to a four month low of USD 11 billion, aided by subdued gold imports.

Gold imports, which has been pushing up current account deficit and putting pressure on rupee, dipped to USD 0.65 billion in August from USD 2.2 billion in the previous month.

Exports, for the second month in a row, increased by 12.97 percent to USD 26.14 billion, while imports declined by 0.68 per cent to USD 37 billion.

"Things are improving in Europe and in the US also economic condition is better. So signs of stability in the major economies including the UK and the positive growth in the US will lead to increase in demand," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

He also said that new markets like Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America have helped in pushing India's exports.

The Minister expressed hope that shipments would continue to be in the positive zone for rest of the financial year. All the exporting sectors barring jewellery have shown positive growth in August.

Sharma said the government will further extend incentives to those exporting sectors which are lagging behind.

"...we will take a considered view and make intervention to support those sectors which are lagging behind, and that we shall do it after the review in October," he said.

During April-August, exports were up by 3.89 percent at USD 124.42 billion. Imports too grew by 1.72 percent to USD 197.79 billion, leaving a trade deficit of USD 73.36 billion.

Oil imports in August grew by 17.88 percent to USD 15.1 billion.

The last time trade deficit had narrowed substantially was in March when it touched USD 10.3 billion.

Trade deficits have been fuelled by high imports of gold and crude oil, contributing to the widening CAD, which touched an all-time high of 4.8 percent of GDP, or USD 88.2 billion, in 2012-13.

However, non-oil imports declined by 10.4 percent to USD 21.9 billion, the Minister said.

Sharma expressed hope that trade deficit will decrease this fiscal from the previous fiscal's USD 191 billion.

Besides putting curbs on gold imports, the government is also taking steps to boost electronics manufacturing to reduce its imports. Last year, India imported electronic goods worth USD 32 billion.

"We are looking at all possible means to take up manufacturing of all electronic products. IT investment regions have been developed. Japanese industry is very keen to establish dedicated electronic parks. Until we start manufacturing, this is (increasing electronic imports) also a drain when it comes to imports," he added.

To a question, he said government cannot curtail these imports till chip manufacturing units start operations.

He also said that the Commerce Ministry is working on ways to restrict imports of non-essential goods.

According to the Minister, high coal imports have also pushed trade deficit and CAD.

"We did get adversely impacted because of development in coal front. India is a country with abundant coal reserves. But we ended up importing coal worth USD 16 billion...we need to reverse (the trend of imports) for our national interest and start mining our own coal and make it available for power production," he said.

He also said the commerce ministry is currently engaged in preparing an internal projection figure.

"By November, we will have the projection on the trends, exports, destinations and commodities for the last quarter of this fiscal. That exercise is already underway," he said.

Engineering exports which were registering negative growth till July have also entered the positive zone. The sector contributes about 20 percent to India's total exports.

On gold imports, Sharma said the fall is expected to continue during the coming months and it would not impact the jewellery sector exports as "enough gold is available".

He said steps taken in the past like enhancing rate of interest subsidy for exporters are helping push exports.

"I am sure that we will continue to do well," he added.

On rupee, he said that the depreciation of the domestic currency is not helping exports as 45 percent of shipments have a substantial import content.

"This means that those imports have become costlier then before. Therefore, they offset the possible gains that could have been there," he said.

During the last four months, rupee has depreciated about 19 percent.

Oil imports during April-August 2013-14 grew by 5.60 percent to USD 69.67 billion. However non-oil imports declined by 0.3 percent to USD 128.11 billion.

Reacting to exports growth, Apparel Export Promotion Council Chairman A Sakthivel said narrowing trade deficit will surely help in easing current account deficit.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said exports will only improve in the coming months and are expected to grow by 20 percent in 2013-14.

"In the given situation, government needs to adopt two pronged strategy to support sectors which are still in red like engineering, electronics and gems & jewellery while simultaneously providing additional support to sectors such as textiles, pharma, chemicals and leather," FIEO said.

Canara CMD RK Dubey conferred GreenTech Life Time Award

PANAJI, Sept 4: Canara Bank Chairman & Managing Director, Mr R K Dubey, has been awarded the prestigious GreenTech Life Time Award for “Excellence in Banking” instituted by GreenTech Foundation.

The award was handed over to him, at a glittering function held at Panaji, Goa today.

Earlier, Mr R K Dubey, inagurated Two new branches of the Bank i.e. at Parra and Quepem.

He also released financial assistance to "Positive People" an NGO working for rehabilitaion of the AIDS/HIV affected people. as CSR activity of the Bank.

Raghuram Rajan takes over as new RBI Governor; unveils big initial package

NEW DELHI, Sept 4: New RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday came out with a slew of measures, including more trade settlement in rupees to rescue the battered financial markets and hinted at a shift in focus from inflation control, doggedly pursued by his predecessor, to boosting growth.

Shortly after he took over as the 23rd Governor of the central bank, Rajan, 50, addressed the media with a prepared statement in which he laid out a detailed road map for his innings in the short term, which he called a "big initial package."

He also rescheduled by a few days the date for his much- anticipated first monetary policy statement to September 20.

The new Governor set up a number of committees for revising and strengthening monetary policy framework, financial stability, financial inclusion, NPAs and an outside panel of experts headed by former Governor Bimal Jalan to screen applications for new bank licenses.

Rajan said the new bank licences will be issued around January next year.

Apparently reflecting a shift in the approach from his predecessor D Subbarao, who had serious differences with the government of late, Rajan said the primary role of the bank is monetary stability to sustain confidence in the value of the rupee.

"Ultimately, this means low and stable expectations of inflation, whether that inflation stems from domestic sources or from changes in the value of the currency, from supply constraints or demand pressures."

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