Tata AIG gives Rs 1,865-crore life cover to GE group staff
Mumbai: Tata AIG Life Insurance Company has provided life insurance cover to 17,226 employees of GE group of companies in India for a total sum assured of Rs 1,865 crore. Under this arrangement, Tata AIG Life will provide group term life cover and presently this cover encompasses 21 group companies (operating in India) in the GE fold with few more expected to partake. GE has opted for the graded sum assured option whereby the sum assured of the insurance policy was based on an employee’s grade in the company, it added. GE India president and chief executive officer Scottbayman says: "At GE, employee care is important to us. The tie-up with Tata AIG is one more initiative in this direction as it seeks to provide a comprehensive and innovative life insurance package to our employees that will help meet the financial needs of their families and secure their future.” Tata AIG Life Insurance Company managing director Ian J Watts says: "Employee care is the time-tested mantra to ensure employee loyalty and one of the best ways to do this is through group life insurance cover.” In two years of operations, Tata AIG Life has extended group life insurance cover to over 100 companies in India, including 16,000 employees of Wipro for a sum assured of Rs 876 crore. Tata AIG General Insurance company has posted more than 200 per cent rise in premium income at Rs 240.8 crore in the financial year ended 31 March 2003, compared to Rs 81.6 crore recorded during the previous fiscal. The rise is due to a ‘robust topline growth through a combination of consumer and corporate insurance sales’ during the year under review. The company posted a 100 per cent increase in the number of policies at 1.88 lakh, of which 8,114 policies were issued to the corporate sector, the release said. Tata AIG settled over 23,000 claims, totalling Rs 59 crore during the year under review, it added.
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Bank of America reports 2% drop in profit
Mumbai: Bank of America (BoA) has reported a close to 2 per cent drop in profit to Rs 85.19 crore for the year ended 31 March 2003 from Rs 86.63 crore in the previous year. The BoA franchise in India, which includes the primary dealership arm (Banc of America Securities India Pvt Ltd), increased its profits to Rs 93.44 crore (Rs 92.66 crore). The bank, which is essentially focussed on corporate banking, scaled up its advances by 12 per cent during the year to Rs 3,298.14 crore (Rs 2932.58 crore). The net interest income of the bank was pegged at Rs 127.23 crore while other revenue added up to Rs 79.33 crore, said the bank in a press release.
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Syndicate Bank revises educational loan scheme
Bangalore: Syndicate Bank has come out with revised educational loan scheme which has waived the third party guarantee.

The loans will be given at the Bank's prime lending rate of 11.5 per cent to meritorious students to pursue higher studies in India and abroad. The scheme under the brand name, Syndvidya, offers a maximum loan of Rs 4 lakh. In addition, students can avail a second loan to meet the specific increase in tuition and hostel fees, which they might not have anticipated while availing of the primary loan. As a special gesture, students will also be permitted to take the loan from any branch of the Bank, says Michael Bastian, chairman and managing director of the Bank. He said the scheme has been restructured as part of the larger commitment of the bank for social and corporate responsibility and aimed at increasing the portfolio by 100 per cent this year from the existing Rs 70 crore. As part of the campaign, branch managers have been asked to contact the educational institutions in their areas and market Syndvidya as an attractive loan product structured for the students.
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Canara Bank to start 10 more branches in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: Canara Bank, which is set to commission its fourth regional office in Kerala, will open around 10 more branches and five extension counters in the state during the current year. The bank already has four Reserve Bank of India licences and these will be utilised for opening branches at Pettah and Kazhakkottam in Thiruvananthapuram district, Angamaly in Ernakulam district and at Kozhikode. These apart, 25 more ATMs will also be put in operation in the state during the year, says N. Kanthakumar, executive director. An exclusive all-woman branch in Thiruvananthapuram is also on the agenda of the bank. The bank, which has 238 branches in Kerala, is opening a new regional office at Kollam, taking the total number of regional offices to four in the state. The office will cover 48 branches in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. Kanthakumar says the commissioning of the new regional office would usher in more effective and efficient financial intermediation that would catalyse further growth and progress in the region.
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Lakshmi General Finance raises Rs 35 crore
Chennai: Lakshmi General Finance (LGF) has raised Rs 35 crore of its proposed fund-raising programme of Rs 100 crore through a debenture issue. The remaining Rs 65 crore will be issued shortly. Company officials say the funds were arranged at rates below 6.5 per cent. The funds are being raised for its working capital requirements. The company has retained the MAAA rating given by rating agency ICRA. LGF had disbursed Rs 406.16 crore in 2002-03 under hire purchase/loans against hypothecation of assets, registering a growth of 21.17 per cent. It clocked a net profit of Rs 16.65 crore.The company's capital adequacy ratio was at 17.9 per cent, while the net NPA ratio was 1.42 per cent in March 2003
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