Utkarsh banks changing lives of Varanasi women, PM Modi praises

Varanasi: The women of Varanasi cherished the inauguration of banking services of Utkarsh on Friday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With the arrival of Utkarsh, women have become self-reliant and started small businesses as the bank lend them money at low interest rates.

PM Modi also unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of foundation stone of the headquarters building of the bank which specialises in micro-finance.

"Through the Utkarsh Bank, the aspirations of the poor will get wings and their dreams will be fulfilled," PM Modi said.

Utkarsh plans to have a network of 400 branches by the end of this fiscal. While nearly 350 of its existing micro-finance branches will be upgraded to small finance bank branches, another 50 will be new additions.

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Currently, Utkarsh has a customer base of 12 lakh across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Utkarsh offers interest at around 100-150 basis points higher than large banks (varying at 8.25-8.5 per cent), while for savings deposits the rate is 6 per cent.

It has 400 branches and outlets as on date with deposits of Rs 400 crore from its borrowers.