Thiruvananthapuram, April 24 Deposits by non-resident Indians (NRIs) in Kerala banks grew from Rs.31,865 crore in June 2008 to Rs.34,649 crore as on December 31, 2008, according to the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC).

The SLBC in a meeting here on Friday said the State Bank group has posted higher growth in deposits during the period than the other nationalised and private banks.

The NRI deposits in the State Bank group grew from Rs.12,654.99 crore to Rs.14,642.94 crore during June-December 2008, the committee said.

The nationalised banks saw the NRI deposits growing from Rs.9,295.86 crore to Rs.9,966.44 crore during the period, while the private sector banks witnessed a marginal growth from Rs.9,422.4 crore to Rs.9,432.67 crore.

The SLBC said the total NRI deposit in Kerala banks in 2008 will be much higher than the previous year's Rs.29,889 crore.

Over the last two years, the growth of NRI deposits has been erratic after showing a huge increase from Rs.24,534 crore in March 2002 to Rs.33,303 crore in March 2007.

It fell to Rs.29,889 crore in March 2008 but now again shows signs of revival.

The State Bank group has the highest share (42.26 percent) of NRI deposits as on December 31, followed by the nationalised banks (28.76 percent) and then the private banks (27.23 percent).

Of the total NRI deposits, Rs.24,034 crore is in the semi urban areas of the state, the SLBC added.

There are more than two million Keralites settled outside the country of which close to 90 percent are in the Middle East.