Gujarat these days seems to be getting blessed with good news after the aftermath of earthquake and finds itself being thrust with another one ->> the new private sector banks have steadily increased their deposits in Gujarat. The aggregate deposits of the private sector banks here increased by 91.58 per cent to Rs 3,596 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2001 against Rs 1,877 crore in the previous year.

Higher interest rates on deposits, greater thrust on the retail segment and technology based banking have helped private sector banks to grow faster than public sector counterparts. In last three years, deposits of private sector banks have increased from Rs 1414 crore (98-99) to Rs 3,596 crore (00-01).

Meanwhile, the deposit growth rate of nationalized banks and State Bank group have decreased to 10.20 per cent and 17.26 per cent growth respectively, from 16.68 per cent and 17.48 per cent of previous year respectively. As per the report presented at the State Level Bankers Committee review meeting last week, deposits of the nationalized banks have increased by Rs 3,372 crore to Rs 36,416 crore for the financial year ended on March 31,2001 against Rs 33,044 crore last year.