The cooperative banking landscape in Goa presents a story of stark contrasts, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While the apex cooperative bank has registered a spectacular surge in profitability, the foundational Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) continue to face significant financial challenges.
Record Profits Mask Underlying Recovery Concerns
The Goa State Cooperative Bank witnessed a nearly three-fold jump in its net profit for the financial year 2024-25. The bank's earnings soared to Rs 14.4 crore as of March 31, 2025, marking a staggering 199% increase from the Rs 4.8 crore profit recorded in the previous year. This impressive growth highlights the bank's improved operational performance at an aggregate level.
However, a key performance indicator tells a more cautious tale. The bank's recovery-to-demand ratio, which measures the efficiency of collecting loan dues, deteriorated during the same period. It fell from 91.7% in June 2023 to 88.6% in June 2024. This means that for every Rs 100 of loan instalments due, the bank could recover only Rs 88.6, compared to Rs 91.7 a year earlier.
Asset Quality Worsens Across the Cooperative Sector
The RBI's assessment points to broader sectoral headwinds beyond just recovery rates. The asset quality of Goa's cooperative institutions has shown signs of strain. The Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio climbed from 4.2% as of March 31, 2024, to 5.2% by March 31, 2025. This indicates a larger portion of loans turned bad over the year.
While Goa's GNPA ratio of 5.2% remains slightly above the all-India average of 4.8% for the cooperative sector, the consistent upward trend is a cause for concern and warrants close monitoring by regulators and bank management.
Grassroots PACS: A Tale of Two Halves
The real stress appears concentrated at the grassroots level, within the network of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. Goa has 109 active PACS, and their financial health is deeply divided.
As of March 2024, the picture was split:
- 52 societies were profitable, collectively earning Rs 4.2 crore.
- 13 societies were in the red, with combined losses adding up to Rs 1.4 crore.
These societies collectively mobilized public deposits worth Rs 122 crore and deployed a working capital of Rs 198.5 crore. The RBI report expressed structural concerns about a significant section of these entities. Out of the 109 PACS, only 79 were classified as viable. Four were marked as potentially viable, while a worrying 26 societies were in various states of dysfunction:
- 9 were dormant.
- 17 were categorized as defunct or otherwise non-functional.
This data underscores a dual reality within Goa's cooperative credit ecosystem. The top-tier bank is riding a wave of high profitability, but this success is not uniformly mirrored down the line. The financial stress among a quarter of the PACS, coupled with rising bad loans and slipping recovery efficiency, poses sustainability questions for the sector's broader base, which is crucial for agricultural and rural credit delivery in the state.
