The Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited (DBL) was incorporated by agroup of local citizens of Thrissur in 1927 with a capitalbase of Rs.11000 and a deposit of Rs.61000. Shri A SMahadeva Iyer and Shri S V Venkitarama Iyer were the firstJoint Managing Directors of the Bank. The other memberswere P Suryanarayana Iyer. Dr P N Vaidhyanatha Iyer T RRama Iyer S K Narasimha Iyer A S Krishna Iyer I AMahadeva Iyer T K Vlshwanatha Iyer and A N VenketeswaraIyer. Shri A S Krishna Iyer laid the foundation with twodecades of service followed by Shri T R AnanthanarayanIyer.In the initial period i.e. from 1927-1937 the services ofthe bank was localised In Thrissur. In 1937 DBL extendedits service to Ernakulam and Palghat by opening their firstbranches in these places. In this period DBL became ahousehold name and the bank was successful In extendingsupport to the people at large. By 1947 the depositsgenerated stood at Rs.31 lacs. After a steady growth in1962 DBL took over three banks viz. Lakshmi Prasad BankRadhakrishna Bank and Parli Bank. During this period theBank recorded appreciable growth with deposits standing atRs.5 crores and a network of 40 branchesSubsequently DBL further expanded its network by openingbranches in Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka In1978. With this DBL''s operation covered the entireSouthern India apart from Its strong presence in Kerala. Inthe initial years emphasis was laid on socio economicactivities and thus the operations were largely confined topersonal banking. The period between 1975- 1985 saw DBLconsolidating Its operations with deposits moving up toaround Rs.50 crores. However DBL''s operations were stillconfined to local business with limited focus on CorporateFinance and Consumer Finance.The period covering 1985-1990 saw DBL opening up Its firstbranch outside the boundaries of Southern India in Bombay.Further the management laid emphasis in the other segmentsof banking such as Bills discounting Inland letter ofcredit etc. This broad basing of business helped DBL tofurther its growth and in the year 1990 the Bank wassuccessful in generating deposits of Rs. 166.61 crores andextending advances to the extent of Rs.50.83 crores. Duringthis period DBL was also able to broad base its clientprofile which among other names included two prominentreligious trusts namely SABARIMALA (Travancore DevaswomTrust) and GURUVAYOOR Devaswom Board. Thus over a periodof time DBL changed its stature from a localised financebody to a banking institution covering a wide spectrum offinancing in Southern and to a limited extent in Westernparts of the country.In 1993 DBL obtained Restricted Foreign Exchange Licence(this permits the bank to maintain rupee accounts of NonResidents). The period covering 1990- 1995 saw DBLregistering an impressive growth in its operations. Duringthis period DBL ventured into new areas such as ConsumerBanking Corporate Banking and Merchant Banking. In theCorporate Finance segment DBL has an impressive clientbase wherein they have either participated in theconsortiums or extended term finance for projectrequirements. In Consumer Finance DBL has been successfulin tying up with Corporates for lending to their employees.As on March 31. 1995 DBL''s operations consists of 135branches spread over five States. The total deposits stoodat Rs.458.46 crores and advances at Rs.285.89 crores.
Name | Position |
---|---|
Mr. K N Madhusoodanan | Chairman |
Mr. K K Ajit Kumar | Managing Director & CEO |
Mr. G Rajagopalan Nair | Independent Director |
Ms. Vardhini Kalyanaraman | Independent Director |
Dr. Nirmala Padmanabhan | Independent Director |