M. Veeranna Gowda
Ballari · Member since 1991
Our story
Forty-eight years in the same four districts
The bank began in 1978 as the Ballari Weavers' Credit Society. Eleven members put in ₹40 each and kept the accounts in a borrowed steel almirah at Cowl Bazaar. The first loan, ₹300 against a pledge of cotton yarn, was repaid in fourteen weeks.
By 1986 the society had 4,000 members and applied for a banking licence. The Reserve Bank granted it in 1988, and the first branch outside Ballari city opened at Hosapete the following year. Growth after that was deliberate rather than fast: one or two branches a year, each one opened only where members already banked with us informally.
Two things have not changed. Deposits raised in a taluk are lent inside that taluk, so savings do not drain toward the cities. And the interest rate schedule is printed in full and displayed at every counter, because a member should be able to read the whole offer in under a minute.
The bank now employs 412 people across 47 branches and three regional offices, and serves 2.4 lakh members. Just over two-thirds of the loan book is agriculture, allied activity and small trade.
Chairman's message
“A co-operative bank is answerable at the counter”
Members ask me why we have not opened in Bengaluru. The answer is that we would stop being useful. A bank of this size is worth something precisely because the person sanctioning a gold loan in Siruguppa knows what a bad monsoon looks like there.
This year we crossed ₹1,284 crore in deposits and held net NPA at 1.8%. Both numbers matter, but the one I watch is the share of first-time borrowers: 19% of loans sanctioned in 2025-26 went to members who had never borrowed formally before. That is the work.
My thanks to the members, to the board, and to the 412 colleagues who open the shutters every morning.
Shri M. Veeranna Gowda
Chairman
Governance
Board of directors
Elected by the general body for a five-year term under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act 1959.
Smt. Sharada Kulkarni
Hosapete · Member since 1996
K. Raghavendra Rao
Appointed 2021
Basavaraj Hiremath
Sandur · Agriculture constituency
Smt. Yellamma Devi
Siruguppa · Women's constituency
Imtiaz Ahmed
Ballari · Trade constituency
S. Nagaraj
Kudligi · General constituency
Dr. P. Chandrashekhar
Koppal · Professional director
Mallikarjun Patil
Raichur · General constituency
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