LEH: A delegation from State Bank of India, led by its General Manager, Chandigarh Circle, Ajay Kumar Jha, called on the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, RK Mathur, at Raj Niwas.

Ajay Kumar Jha informed about various initiatives of the State Bank of India, including various loans for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), loans provided by them for Prime Ministers' Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Start-Up India scheme, etc. He informed that an SME branch of SBI would soon be set up in Ladakh. He also informed about opening around 8 new SBI branches in Leh and Kargil to provide better services to the people of Ladakh.

Ajay Kumar Jha stated that SBI can provide loans to food processing and Pashmina units in Ladakh, which, inter alia, would provide employment opportunities to youth from the region. He informed that SBI can provide MSME loans for setting up homestays. He apprised of the ongoing tendering work to introduce mobile banking vans with internet facilities to provide banking and ATM facilities to the people in unconnected areas of Ladakh.

Deputy General Manager, SBI, Pawan Kumar and Relationship Manager, Sushil Hans, were present in the meeting.