Agartala, March 6 (TIWN) Amid the Covid-induced economic slowdown, the Tripura Gramin Bank (TGB) has become the first among the 45 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in India to post a net profit for 20 straight years, after it reported net profit of Rs 133.61 crore till December last year of the current fiscal, doing business of over Rs 10,000 crore, a top bank official said.

According to the TGB Chairman Mahendra Mohan Goswami, the bank has been doing profit since 2001-02, first of its kind among India''s 45 RRBs and in the first six months (April-September) of the on going financial year, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 44.43 crore against Rs 11.36 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal (2018-19).  India had earlier 56 RRBs. Many of them amalgamated among themselves or merged with their sponsor banks. Goswami said that the TGB in the last fiscal (2018-19) had secured a record net profit of Rs 125.45 crore which was the highest ever since the bank''s existence in 1976 and also crossed the business of Rs 9,000 crore.  Goswami said: "The bank currently has 160 branches including 12 Ultra Small Branches (USB) across Tripura. The deposit increased by 8.94 per cent and crossed Rs 6617 crore as on September 30, from Rs 6073.81 crore on September 30 last year."  The bank''s Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) currently stood at 40.60 per cent against the national banks'' CDR of 66 per cent. The bank, which covered over 75 per cent of Tripura''s population, mostly in the rural and interior areas, also has Aadhaar-enabled 225 micro ATMs and 192 business correspondents to hand out money and other banking services at the doorsteps of customers.  The TGB is the first RRB in India to have been accorded permission by the RBI to start treasury function of the Tripura government and open a currency chest.