Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 1: J&K Bank today celebrated 75th year of its glorious existence. The bank was incorporated on October 1, 1938.
Clicking the mouse amid a thunderous applause on the occasion, chief guest Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram e-inaugurated 122 Business Units (BU) and 179 ATMs of the bank, which includes the BUs opened in places like inhospitable Batalik, Turtuk near LoC in Nubra valley, Salamabad in Uri, Dera Baba Banda Bahadur in far off Reasi, Jammu and Karoo, which is on way to famous Pangong Lake, Ladakh.
Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and State Finance Minister A R Rather were the guests of honour.
Speaking to a jam packed audience at SKICC here, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram commended the bank over its business ratios and said, “I envy the ratios of J&K Bank. No other bank in India having stakes of the Central Government can rival the quality of its assets.”
“For such a performance I complement the foresight and vision of Maharaja Hari Singh and Sir Pochkanwala who founded this bank,” he added.
With gross NPAs of 1.62 percent and Net NPAs of 0.14 percent, J&K Bank has remained true to its core functioning as a commercial bank.
He said that banking was not to make complicated products but to provide the customers what they want and, which he said, was being precisely done by J&K Bank.
An ownership of 27% shares with the Foreign Institutional Investors is a real tribute to the quality of the bank, he added.
Advising the bank to take lead in expanding the business relations of people of the state with other states and overseas, he urged the bank to open more of its branches in other states of India and overseas. “With such a glorious track record at 75, this is the time to tell the world that you have arrived,” he said.
Saying that technology was key driver in globalization of finance and the world economies, he pitched for recruitment of younger talent, whom he said, handle the technology better and with ease.
Earlier Chief Minister Omar Abdullah congratulated the bank for its sterling performance and said, “It is a bank with an amazing past. And if future is anything like its past then there is no limit that it cannot reach.”
“From being small and unknown bank in the past, it has come to be one of the top banks in the country. And from here onwards it can surely become the best bank in the region and beyond”, he added.
Appreciating the role of bank in localizing its products, he said, “J&K Bank has really sustained the local economies by providing them tailor-made solutions in agriculture, handicrafts and tourism. From entrepreneurship to providing employment they have always taken the lead.”
Assuring that Government will continue to work closely with bank, he urged the bank to make its centenary function even bigger than the Platinum one.
Speaking on the occasion, State Finance Minister A R Rather appreciated the bank saying that after passing through initial ups and downs, the oldest public sector institution has never looked back.
However, he stressed upon all the banks working in the state to further increase the CD Ratio within the state.
Deputy CM, Tara Chand attributed the success of the bank to the hard work, integrity and experience of the officers and other staff of the bank.
He said, “From its humble beginning, the bank has emerged as an institution with one lakh crore of business. The bank finances the businesses and industry, employs the educated and nurtures entrepreneurship.”
Earlier, in his welcome address on the bank’s historic Platinum Jubilee function, visibly elated Chairman and CEO J&K Bank Mushtaq Ahmad said, “Our immediate vision is to strike the right balance between continuity and change. We envisage J&K Bank to be a mid-size financial institution in the industry that builds a strong and secure economic bridge between the demands of our present societies and aspirations of our future generations.”
“Though a commercial organisation in essence our commitment to serve is an established fact. For, service remains closer to our hearts”, he added.
Providing a mind picture of the bank’s story in numbers, he said, “In Silver Jubilee year 1963, J&K Bank had an annual business turnover of Rs 5.79 crore and annual profit of Rs 2.47 lakh. Then in our Golden Jubilee year, 1988, our business reached Rs 1227 crore with a net profit of Rs 1.49 crore.”
Today, in our Platinum Jubilee year I am delighted to say that our business is more than one Lac crore and profits are over one thousand crore..”
“Our growth story is as spectacular as it sounds dramatic in numbers. But the real achievement of the bank is reflected from the countless faces with smiles and successes worth trillions and more”, he added. He attributed all the success to the trust and confidence of stake holders.
He also reiterated the bank’s commitment towards the people’s empowerment.
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