ICICI Bank has identified rural credit as the next growth platform for which it had decided to leverage the role of micro-credit organisations.
With initial focus on consumer credit, the bank would now focus on agricultural credit to boost growth, ICICI Bank managing director and CEO K V Kamath told reporters on Thursday.
The bank would identify people and provide the technology for setting up micro-credit organisations across the country, he said.
As per plans, ICICI Bank would roll out 200 micro-credit organisations by 2008-09, Kamath said, adding that farm credit disbursals would be primarily channelised through these entities.
Each micro-credit organisation would look after three districts, he said.
Kamath said the target this year for rural credit disbursals was around Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion), which would be 20 per cent of the total credit portfolio of the bank.
He said the supply-chain and development of road infrastructure would also play a key role in the disbursal of farm credit.