Saraswat Cooperative bank has indeed earned a name for itself in urban cooperative banking but imagine it going the private way.
To find out the truth, Indian Cooperative.com contacted Mr Eknath Thakur,the Chairman of the Bank. Here is a brief excerpt of interview with him
Q Are you going to be a private bank on the lines of ICICI or HDFC?
Thakur: Who am I to decide It is a cooperative bank with a membership of 75,000 individuals. They have to decide.
Q But is there some idea doing rounds?
Thakur: Look, we are going quite strong and there is lots of optimism. We wish to expand and touch the sky. There are constraints of capital. Today or tomorrow, members will have to take a call.
Q What expansion plan?
Thakur: We have presently 205 branches spread across many states. We will make it 250 by the end of the year.
Q By the end of the year? You mean by the end of 2010 or 2011?
Thakur: Of course by the end of 2010. And also in the next five years we wish to touch Rs 50,000 figure from the present Rs 25000 figure. But as I said you it’s a member driven bank and any decision regarding its future course of action has to come from members alone.
Q Will not it change the cooperative nature of Saraswat Bank?
Thakur: Of course it will. Private banks and cooperative banks are two different entities. Here you have members while in the case of a private bank there would be shareholders. But being the Chairman it is my job to apprise our members about the challenges facing us on the growth path. Our members will decide if we have to go private or not.