Team Goemkarponn
MAPUSA: A day after state cabinet approved decision to acquire Mapusa Urban Bank’s Nandadeep building for ₹25 crores, the former Union Minister and ex chairman of the bank Ramakant Khalap urged government to initiate steps for its revival.
“As per the market rate, the Mapusa Urban Cooperative Bank property can easily fetch ₹80 to ₹100 crore. The assets of MUCB are enough to clear the dues,” said Khalap
He further said that the bank is not dead and the government should revive it.
“I am pleased that the government is interested in the proposal that I submitted to them to revitalize the bank,” Khalap remarked. He proposed reviving the bank as a Multi-State Credit Co-op first, and later transforming it into a full-fledged bank with branches opened throughout the state.
Khalap claims that if it is resurrected, the bank will be able to reimburse depositors who have deposits over Rs five lakh, totaling between Rs 60 and Rs 70 crore. Additionally, the bank can recoup unpaid loans of Rs 20 crore; overall, the bank’s assets were valued at Rs 15–20 crore.
Given this, the Bank, which formerly offered low-cost lending to middle-class and small-business owners, has every chance of being revived.
The Bank suffered, according to Khalap, as a result of growing non-performing assets (NPAs), which reached Rs 100 crore. He claimed that the Bank’s Board was not to blame for this and that the dispute with the previous administration over the Bank’s Multi-State Status was the reason for it.
