Lok Sabha Question No. 354 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-24
Subject: Shortage of Bank Branches
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Dharambir Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  354

To be answered on Monday, June 24, 2019/Ashadha 3, 1941 (Saka)

## Shortage of Bank Branches

## 354. SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  unaware  of  the  acute  shortage  of  bank  branches  in  the  rural  areas throughout the country including the State of Haryana;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  number  of  new  bank  branches  proposed  to  be  opened  by  the Government during the current year and the next three years, State/District-wise including Haryana;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to open bank branches in the villages throughout the country with a population of more than five thousand;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be opened; and
- (e)  the  details  of  new  bank  branches  opened  throughout  the  country  during  each  of  the  last  five  years, State/District-wise including Haryana?

## Answer The Finance Minister

## (SHRIMATI NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a) to (d) As on 31.3.2018 there are 51,436 rural branches in the country, out of which 1646 are in the state of Haryana.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  has  granted  general  permission  to  Domestic  Scheduled  Commercial  banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks), to open banking outlets at any place in the country, without seeking prior approval of RBI in each case, subject to at least 25% of the total number of banking outlets [a fixed point service delivery unit, manned either by bank's staff or its Business Correspondent (BC)] opened during a financial year in unbanked rural centres.

To cover rural areas all across the country, 1.59 lakh Sub Service Areas (SSAs) have were created, where each SSA comprises of 1,000 to 1,500 households (approx. 4000 to 5000 population). Out of these SSA, 0.33 lakh rural SSAs are covered through bank branches and 1.26 lakh rural SSAs are covered though fixed location BC.

Further,  an  exercise  based  upon  the  Geographical  Information  System  (GIS),  a  mapping  exercise  was undertaken by National Informatics Centre (NIC) to locate inhabited villages which are not having banking facility within a distance of 5 km. Out of 8622 identified locations, 7363 locations have been covered through deployment of BCs.

In  addition  to  above,  the  requirement  of  new  banking  outlets  as  received  from  time  to  time  are  also discussed in meetings of the concerned District Level Consultative Committee (DLCC)/ State Level Banker's Committee (SLBC) and based on the recommendations made, new outlets are opened by different banks.

- (e)  The  details  of  new  bank  branches  opened  throughout  the  country  during  each  of  the  last  five  years, State/UT-wise including Haryana are as per Annexure.

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Annexure as referred to in Part (e) of reply to the Lok Sabha question No. 354 for 24.6.2019 regarding "Shortage of Bank Branches''

Number of Branches Opened by Commercial Banks - State/UTs -wise (01.04.2013 31.12.2018)

| Sr. No.   | States / UTs              |   Rural |   Total Branches |
|-----------|---------------------------|---------|------------------|
| 1         | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |       3 |               15 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh            |     802 |             2608 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh         |      14 |               48 |
| 4         | Assam                     |     480 |             1014 |
| 5         | Bihar                     |     894 |             2251 |
| 6         | Chandigarh                |       8 |              152 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh              |     745 |             1402 |
| 8         | Dadra & Nagar Haveli      |       6 |               17 |
| 9         | Daman & Diu               |       1 |                5 |
| 10        | Goa                       |      59 |              144 |
| 11        | Gujarat                   |     721 |             2340 |
| 12        | Haryana                   |    1060 |             2509 |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh          |     425 |              547 |
| 14        | Jammu & Kashmir           |     248 |              448 |
| 15        | Jharkhand                 |     281 |              802 |
| 16        | Karnataka                 |    1800 |             4827 |
| 17        | Kerala                    |     210 |             2706 |
| 18        | Lakshadweep               |       0 |                2 |
| 19        | Madhya Pradesh            |     525 |             2002 |
| 20        | Maharashtra               |     879 |             3755 |
| 21        | Manipur                   |      32 |               84 |
| 22        | Meghalaya                 |      32 |               98 |
| 23        | Mizoram                   |      11 |               58 |
| 24        | Nagaland                  |      10 |               44 |
| 25        | Nct Of Delhi              |      25 |             1008 |
| 26        | Odisha                    |     708 |             1468 |
| 27        | Puducherry                |      18 |               79 |
| 28        | Punjab                    |    1157 |             2492 |
| 29        | Rajasthan                 |    1747 |             3936 |
| 30        | Sikkim                    |      25 |               51 |
| 31        | Tamil Nadu                |     997 |             3510 |
| 32        | Telangana                 |     683 |             2282 |
| 33        | Tripura                   |      78 |              225 |
| 34        | Uttar Pradesh             |    3093 |             6032 |
| 35        | Uttarakhand               |     216 |              586 |
| 36        | West Bengal               |    1170 |             2824 |
| Total     | Total                     |   19163 |            52371 |

Source: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)