Srinagar, Apr 16 (KNO): The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I) today hosted an interactive session with the leadership of Axis Bank at the Chamber office. The Axis Bank delegation was led by Reynold D'Souza, President and Head, Branch Banking North & TASC Business, along with his team. The meeting followed a preliminary interaction with the CEO/MD Axis Bank, Amitabh Chaudhry on 14th of April 2026.
According to a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the session was attended by the members of the Executive Committee, members of the Chamber and representatives of the business organisations, who held detailed deliberations on improving easy access to finance on competitive rates and strengthening banking outreach in Jammu & Kashmir.
Welcoming the delegation, KCC&I President Javid Ahmad Tenga highlighted Kashmir’s strong economic potential and noted that increased participation of banks enhances competition and provides greater choice to customers. He pointed out that the region maintains NPAs below 2 percent, reflecting a strong and trustworthy credit culture.
The President of KCCI asked Axis Bank to expand its presence by opening more branches, across Kashmir including the Shahre-e-Khas, and to extend greater support to key sectors such as horticulture, handicrafts, tourism, Traders/shopkeepers and exports. He stressed on the need of awareness about many beneficial schemes, often unknown to borrowers.
He emphasised the need for facilitating loans under CGTMSE at reasonable rates and introducing artisan credit schemes.
The participants further stressed the importance of launching customised schemes for women entrepreneurs, improving access to education loans, and significantly increasing lending under the priority sector. They observed that private banks generally have a lower Credit-Deposit Ratio (CDR) in the priority sector in the region and called for corrective measures to ensure adequate credit flow to deserving sectors.
Former President A.M. Matto emphasised the need for banks to strengthen their grassroots presence, deliver quality services, and appoint local staff to better serve the business community.
Prominent hotelier Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya highlighted the need for easy credit availability, competitive interest rates, and simplified financing processes to support businesses across sectors.
Responding to the suggestions, Reynold D'Souza thanked KCC&I for facilitating the interaction and stated that Axis Bank is leveraging AI-driven customised solutions to enhance customer experience. He added that the bank is continuously training its workforce, (mostly locally employed), to provide efficient, responsive, and relationship-oriented services. He said the Axis bank will ramp up its lending in the priority sector, particularly focusing on horticulture, handicrafts and exporters, and assured that the suggestions put forth by the participants would be duly considered.
He further informed that a team from Axis Bank’s head office will visit the region again in the last week of April, adding that the bank will continue its engagement and interaction with the business community on a sustained basis.
The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Secretary General Faiz Ahmad Bakshi, and a shared commitment to deepen collaboration between the banking sector and the business community to promote inclusive growth and economic development in Jammu & Kashmir—(KNO)