Jammu and Kashmir Bank has emerged one of the prosperous banks of the country. Its history tells of the phenomenal growth over the years which would make an enviable story for any other bank under state patronage. By the end of December 2012, the number of its business units reached 662 and that of ATMs 581. The Bank envisages business target of one lakh crore for the current fiscal year and a net profit of rupees one thousand crore which is very remarkable. During the quarter ended December 2012, it has posted a profit of rupees 289.12 crore. The financial business of the bank for the current fiscal year has reached 92,732 crore rupees which is up by 11.18 per cent during the previous corresponding period. Giving a review of bank’s performance, Chairman and CEO Mushtaq Ahmad said that during the last 12 months business had grown by more than 14000 crore which means rupees 1150 crore for every month. Besides, it has opened 100 new business units and 120 ATMs. The net profit for the nine months ended December 31, 2012 increased by 35.26 per cent as it jumped to 805.02 crore rupees.
Obviously, the progress of the bank is revealed by exhaustive figures and statistics which the bank has provided. Progress is usually measured by examining comparative statistics. Commenting on what facilitated such a phenomenal progress in the business of the banks, the Chairman said that JK Bank had significantly improved corporate, retail and treasury banking portfolios. In comparison to two previous quarters, the cost of deposits had been brought down and that facilitated better advancing for the bank. The Chairman is confident of achieving the targets without losing focus on the impact and implications of bank’s expansion policy in terms of infrastructure, HR operational efficiency etc.
All these are very encouraging signs and we hope the bank will not remain content with the targets it has fixed but will work with far wider vision. The State is steadily moving along the path of economic progress and J&K Bank has played crucial part in that endeavour. The statistics that have been released indicate that the State is well on the track of business and financial improvement and that investment is becoming result oriented. But the prestigious bank has to play still bigger role in taking the state to financial self-sufficiency.
We think that J&K Bank is now well poised for taking the leading role in bringing about big social-economic change in the State. With its given financial stability, it could now begin thinking about launching mega developmental schemes especially in social sector. The bank needs to identify these sectors where it would make investment in a creative manner. The bank could consider classification of society into categories like women, student community, senior citizens and the handicapped and then proceed to draw socially supportive schemes for the improvement of their life and living standards. In western countries, banks have incorporated social-economic sector for investigation and treatment. For example, those banks invest considerably into researches in science and technology that could change the entire life pattern of segments of community. This is a vast field in which the scope of investment is worth considering.
We congratulate J&K Bank and its functionaries for their remarkable performance over the years. We do acknowledge that in terms of infrastructure, the bank has taken big strides to project its desired profile in right perspective. At the same time we are happy to note that business dealing at its numerous units is customer friendly. It has contributed to providing employment to the youth through expansion of its business activities and through providing loans to them for self employment or for educational purposes. It is the leading bank of the State and a bigger role is waiting it in days to come. We wish the bank progress and prosperity.
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