FROM THE DESK OF CHAIRMAN

It gives me immense pleasure in presenting the 10th Annual Report of Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank for the year ended 31st March 2022. The Board of Directors on 27th April, 2022 met to adopt the financial results of the Bank for the year ended 31.03.2022.

"Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached"

The above motivational quote by Swami Vivekananda truly signifies the remarkable strength of working together with a positive attitude to achieve growth, even in most challenging environment. The achievement of crossing the milestone business figure of Rs. 10,000 crores is the sum of concerted efforts made by each and every member of Team HPGB, with the sense of involvement and dedicated service provided to our esteemed customers.

During the year 2021-22, Bank has registered a substantial growth in all the business segments. Total business of the Bank has increased by 12.98% from Rs. 8918 crores to 10076 crores. Deposits of the Bank are Rs. 7271.75 crores with a YoY growth of 12.25%. In advances, Bank has shown a growth of 14.91% with an increase of Rs. 363.94 crores, thus bringing the total to Rs. 2804.26 crores. I appreciate the extraordinary efforts made by every member of Team HPGB who has shown commitment in discharging their duties efficiently.

Performance of Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank during FY 2021-22 under key business parameters is as under:

(Amt. in Rs. crores)

 The Bank has a total of 266 branches, covering almost all the unbanked areas in all the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh. Apart from serving through well-established branches, Bank is also following Bank Mitra and Bank Sakhi models to reach more unbanked areas.

There has been a lot of transformation taking place in the Banking sector. Our Bank has kept pace with the fast growing changes and has been quick to put in place value added services to the customers. Various initiatives undertaken by the Bank are as under:

• Restructuring of MSME accounts up to 31.03.2022 as per RBI guidelines.
• Implementation of Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) Scheme for MSME loans as per directives of Government of India.
• Implementation of PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme as per Government of India guidelines.
• Payment under PM Kisan Samman Yojna as per directions of Government of India.

Social Security Schemes as on 31.03.2022:

(Amt. in Rs. Lacs)

HPGB has the highest share in all the social security schemes as compared with the banking system in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Performance of our bank w.r.t. settlement of claims is the best in Himachal Pradesh. Success of these schemes is the result of Pro-active attitude of our Team.

• Atal Pension Yojna: Team HPGB has performed exceptionally well in fresh enrolments of APY during the year as well as sustaining the subscribers. For exemplary performance in APY, Bank has been felicitated with awards in different categories by PFRDA during the year.

Bank’s Concerns:

• Low CD Ratio & Quality Lending: There is a growth in CD ratio from 37.67% as on 31.03.2021 to 38.56% as on 31.03.2022 but still it is far from the national goal of 60%. There is a need to chalk out suitable strategies according to the different areas of operation in order to enhance quality lending, therby increasing CD ratio of the Bank.
• Low CASA percentage: Although CASA has increased from 2487.29 crore to 2707.63 crore but percentage of CASA to the total deposits has decreased from 38.40% as on 331.03.20201 to 37.23% as on 31.03.2022. So, we have to focus on increasing the CASA percentage by sourcing the maximum number of current/ saving accounts in a campaign mode.
• NPA: Gross NPA and Net NPA of the Bank as on 31.03.2022 were 5.74% and 1.60% respectively. Bank has been able to restrict Gross NPA to 5.74% even after implementation of system generated asset classification which has been a cumulative outcome of the efforts of every individual associated with the Bank. We look forward to bring down the level of NPA below desired level of 5%.
• Low Return on Assets: Our prime focus will be on increasing quality lending, NPA reduction and restricting fresh slippage to NPAs in order to increase the Bank’s profit and return on assets.

We aim to dedicate our energy towards serving the rural and urban sector in the most efficient manner. We will remain committed as ever, to render banking services to those who previously have no access. We will remain committed for promoting digitization of banking services, for the sheer convenience and the transparency it brings and to play our role in sensitizing the general public on its benefits. And most of all, we will remain committed to our role in driving forward the economic and social development of the state of Himachal Pradesh. These aspirations can only take shape if all our wellwishers and members come forward with a single purpose of seeing the growth and welfare of the Bank.

I personally thank each and every member of the Bank’s work force, for the tremendous support received from them. I also express my thanks to the Board Directors for their guidance and invaluable counsel. And most of all, I sincerely thank our customers and well-wishers, for maintaining trust and confidence with the bank. We look forward to your continued faith, support and patronage to help the Bank scaling new heights.

With warm regards,

(Rajendra Singh)