The 100th Annual General Meeting of the Kodagu District Cooperative Central Bank for the year 2024-25 was held recently under the chairmanship of the Bank’s Chairman, Kodandera P. Ganapathi, at the D. Pandyanda I. Belyappa Memorial Hall of “Unnathi Bhavan,” the head office in Madikeri.
President Ganapathi informed the meeting that the Bank continues to make profits, having earned a profit of Rs. 16.70 crore as of March 31.
The Kodagu District Cooperative Central Bank, Madikeri, was established on June 28, 1921, with a share capital of Rs. 4,000, deposits of Rs. 10,000, 48 cooperative societies, and 16 individual members. The Bank has now completed 104 years of service in the cooperative sector of the district and is running a transparent administration in its 105th year.
The Bank is progressing steadily by utilizing the financial and technical facilities provided by the RBI, NABARD, and the Apex Bank. Today, it is recognized as the third leading District Cooperative Central Bank among district cooperative banks in the state. According to the report of the quarterly meeting of the lead bank for the year 2024-25, the Kodagu District Cooperative Central Bank has competed with 23 private and commercial banks in the district and secured the first place in deposit collection with a share of 27.12 percent and in lending with a share of 10.12 percent. It is ranked second in overall performance with a share of 24.62 percent. The Bank has also achieved a share of 22.20 percent in the district’s priority sector lending, scoring 96 percent in the audit of 2024-25. The Bank has consistently been classified as “A” in the audit for several years, which stands as a model for its internal control system. Additionally, it received the third prize from the Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank for best performance for the year 2023-24 at the Annual General Meeting held on 13.08.2025.
As of March 31, a total of 289 cooperative societies have become members of the Bank, raising a total share capital of Rs. 35.91 crore across categories A, B, and C, which marks an increase of Rs. 4.45 crore compared to the previous year. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â As of March 2025, the Bank has total equity capital of Rs. 137.59 crore, including share capital, statutory reserves, and undistributed dividends. The Bank’s net worth stands at Rs. 139.91 crore, while its total business for the year 2024-25 is Rs. 3,372.12 crore, ranking first in the district.
During the reporting year, Rs. 1,771.33 crore was collected from unions and customers of the district as on March 31, 2025. Recognizing Kodagu as a land of soldiers, the Bank has implemented a scheme to provide an additional interest rate of 0.25 percent on all term deposits for soldiers, encouraging them to benefit from it. The target for deposit collection for the year 2025-26 has been set at Rs. 2,000 crore, with rank-wise targets assigned to staff to achieve this goal.
Loans Disbursed by the Bank: The Bank has prioritized agricultural development and, through cooperative societies, has been providing short-term crop loans, medium-term agricultural loans, cash loans, and marketing finance loans (MSC). Additionally, agricultural short-term loans up to Rs. 5 lakhs have been provided to members at zero interest, along with medium-term loans at 3 percent interest under concessional schemes. Medium-term agricultural loans of up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs per acre, with a maximum limit of Rs. 15 lakhs, are being extended for purposes such as sprinkler irrigation, lake construction, coffee granaries or warehouses, pulper units, solar and wire fencing, purchase of tractor tillers, and other modern agricultural machinery.
Loans are also being provided for rural housing, vehicles, house construction, education, salary-based needs, pigmy-based collateral, overdraft facilities, mortgage and purchase of properties, solar equipment, and RTC-based jewellery collateral loans at concessional rates. For large farmers, personal crop loans up to Rs. 5 lakhs are provided, subject to a state government interest subsidy, with an upper limit of Rs. 60 lakhs. The Bank has sanctioned a crop loan NCL limit of Rs. 1,064.31 crore to various primary agricultural cooperative societies in the district for the years 2023 to 2026. During 2024-25, KCC loans amounting to Rs. 830.32 crore were disbursed to eligible farmer members through cooperative societies.
Loan Schemes: Loan schemes have been formulated for cooperative societies to purchase sites and buildings. Solar energy loans with a 3 percent interest subsidy have been introduced for the purchase and installation of solar panels for irrigation. Rural housing loans of Rs. 5 lakh per acre for commercial crops and Rs. 3 lakh per acre for farms or general purposes are being disbursed. Vehicle loans up to Rs. 60 lakhs are available, with hypothecation-based loans up to Rs. 25 lakhs requiring no additional security. Cooperative societies and customers may also avail loans for CCTV and inverter installation, subject to CMA norms.
The Sampaje branch, located near the Dakshina Kannada border, is authorized to provide pigmy-based collateral loans, inventory-based overdraft loans, and vehicle loans. The individual maximum loan limit for agricultural activities has been increased to Rs. 2 lakhs. House construction loans have been raised to Rs. 75 lakhs, with an additional Rs. 60 lakhs available to customers meeting NABARD CMA criteria, making the total house construction loan limit Rs. 135 lakhs. The interest rate on RTC-based jewellery loans is 1 percent lower than normal, with an overall maximum loan limit of Rs. 50 lakhs, of which Rs. 20 lakhs is RTC-based. Â Â Â To ease the financial burden on farmers, all loan interest rates have been reduced by 0.50 percent with effect from 01.08.2025.
Self-Help Group Scheme: As of 31.03.2025, there were 2,982 self-help groups in the district’s bank branches, with 661 new groups formed during the reporting period. Of these, 659 groups were linked, and loans totaling Rs. 30.89 crore (including recurring loans) were disbursed. Loan eligibility ranges from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs.
Loan Fair: To mark the first anniversary of the inauguration of “Unnathi Bhavan” on 25.01.2025 and 26.01.2025, a district-level vehicle and agricultural machinery loan fair was organized for two consecutive years, disbursing Rs. 7.80 crore to 86 customers.
During the reporting period, total loan disbursement stood at Rs. 1,306.39 crore, including Rs. 730.04 crore in agricultural loans and Rs. 576.35 crore in non-agricultural loans. Outstanding loans as on 31.03.2025 amounted to Rs. 1,600.79 crore. Loan recovery rates stood at 99.85 percent for agricultural loans, 92.10 percent for non-agricultural loans, and 97.35 percent overall. The Bank has set a disbursement target of Rs. 1,600 crore for 2025-26.
Technological Facilities: All branches are on the core banking system, offering RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, DBT, POS, Micro ATM, Mobile Banking, UPI, and ATM services. Green PIN facilities are available for cardholders. ATM services are operational in 17 branches, and 48 micro ATMs have been implemented under the Bharat Bill Payment Scheme for the convenience of KCC cardholders. QR code facilities have also been introduced. CCTV cameras have been installed at the head office and 24 branches, with centralized monitoring. Personalized CTS cheque books are being printed at the head office.
To expand its reach, the Bank obtained RBI approval on 14.07.2025 to open new branches at Guddehosur in Kushalnagar Taluk, Thitimathi in Ponnampet Taluk, and Kakkabbe in Madikeri Taluk.
Contribution to Cooperative Societies: In the last financial year, Rs. 4.50 lakhs was provided to 8 societies for basic development through the cooperative societies promotion fund. Additionally, Rs. 4.73 lakhs was distributed to 50 institutions from the community sponsorship fund. On the recommendation of the Chairman, the Apex Bank contributed Rs. 45.50 lakhs to 32 member cooperative societies. Further, Rs. 10.50 lakhs was granted to 7 societies for study tours.
Alongside recording high profits, the Bank declared a 13 percent dividend to cooperative societies, making it the highest dividend-paying bank in the state.
At the Annual General Meeting, prizes were awarded to well-performing cooperative societies of the district for 2024-25.
Among the primary agricultural cooperative societies, Peraje (first), Napoklu (second), and Payashwini (third) in Madikeri Taluk; Hathur (first), Nalkeri (second), and T. Shettigeri (third) in Virajpet Taluk; and Aigoor (first), Rameshwaram Kudumangaluru (second), and Goudalli (third) in Somwarpet Taluk were recognized.
Other member cooperative societies awarded included Agricultural Produce Marketing Cooperative Society Ponnampet APCMS (first), Moornadu APCMS (second), and Kushalnagar APCMS (third); Cooperative Day Stores Balamuri Multipurpose Cooperative Day Store (first), Ichur Kund Cooperative Day Store Bhandara (second), and ValnurTyagathtur Multipurpose Cooperative Day Bhandara (third).
Among non-agricultural cooperative societies, Kodagu BSNL Employees and Retired Employees’ Cooperative Society (first), Somwarpet Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Somwarpet (second), and Kodagu Cooperative Employees’ Cooperative Society (third) were recognized.
The Virajpet Town Cooperative Bank (first) under the Town/Women’s Cooperative Bank category and the Agriculture Rural Development Bank, Virajpet (first) under the Rural.
