NT NETWORK
Panaji
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the state- owned financial institution EDC witnessed a 13 per cent increase
in its revenue, and 55 per cent jump in profit during the 2020-21.
The financial institution during a board meeting disclosed provisional revenue of Rs 115 crore and Rs 84 crore profit in 2020-21, as against Rs 101 crore revenue and Rs 54 crore profit in the previous year, said K V Ballikar, managing director, on Monday.
The corporation improved revenues by stepping up loan recoveries from private as well as state government companies. Further, there was a good response to the Modified Interest Rebate (MIR) loan scheme, on which the interest rate is very low, said the managing director.
“All our borrowers paid on time even government companies like GSIDC, Sewerage & Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa (SIDCGL) and Sports Authority of Goa, among others,” said Ballikar.
He revealed that the provisional profit shot up due to the sale of a plot at Patto Plaza to the RBI-Goa, from which the EDC earned Rs 30 crore.
“However even after taking away the extraordinary income from the sale of plot, the profit was higher than in 2019-20,” he said.
“The pandemic has affected the sanctions and disbursements of all banks and financial institutions in India. In our case, less people approached us for loans under the CMRY, because they were facing market problem. To offset the slowdown in demand for funds our officials conducted widespread awareness on lending schemes,” said the managing director.
The EDC carried out awareness camps in industrial estates across the states.
Corporation officials visited over 2,000 units in the industrial estates. The enquiries from unit promoters received during the awareness camps are expected to translate into loan applications during the current year.
“Several industrial units in the state have expansion plans post-pandemic which will result in advances during the current year,” explained the managing director.
He said that the EDC loan portfolio improved in 2020-21 as borrowers have good credit rating with track record of timely loan repayments.
In September 2019, the EDC board decided to allot 2020 square metre of land at Patto Complex to the Reserve Bank of India for its Goa office.
The sale proceeds of the land located near LIC building at Patto Plaza is reflected in the provisional profits of the previous year.
Meanwhile, EDC’s proposed ‘Market of Goa’ project at Patto Plaza over 8,000 square metre of vacant land is also ongoing.