There is a shortage of cooperative entities with financial background strong enough to take over the beleaguered Rupee Bank’s losses amounting to a whopping Rs 1400 crore. Financial Express reports the Maharashtra government is considering approaching nationalized banks for a possible merger.
Earlier, Subhash Deshmukh, state minister for cooperation held a review meet with the board of administrators of the bank in Pune. He said that the government will try to merge the bank with a nationalised bank since no cooperative bank is willing to come forward.
Earlier, according to media reports Punekar Nagrik Kruti Samiti has made public a list of 100 alleged defaulters of the Rupee Bank. The Samiti says the beleaguered bank currently under the control of an administrator has been waiving off interest on loans running into crores. All these loans had been given to powerful politicians, the Samiti claimed.
One of the beneficiaries of the bank’s generosity is the Dhariwal Group of Companies, Asian Age quoted Samiti. Dhariwal group, which owns the ‘Manikchand’ brand, had been given an interest waiver worth Rs 5 crore while a builder received a Rs 3-crore interest waiver, source added.
Justifying the act the cooperative commissioner said the waivers could have been carried out per the existing guidelines. “If the loan is huge, waiving off Rs 3 or 5 crore is acceptable,” he said.
The cooperative department had fixed the responsibility of recovering Rs 1,490 crore from the 34 then-directors of the bank and 40 bank officials for running the bank into losses.
The names of several banks such as Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank and even Saraswat Bank for merger with Rupee Bank have cropped up in the past but to little avail.