Kotak to expand branch network in Punjab, Haryana

The Bank has 41 branches in Punjab, Haryana, plans to open 5-8 new branches

Having witnessed a deposit growth of over 50 per cent on a year-on-year basis in Punjab and Haryana, as of June 30, Kotak Mahindra Bank is targeting to expand its branch network by 20 per cent in the state in the current financial year. Presently, the bank has 41 branches in Punjab and Haryana and plans to open five-eight new branches here.

Speaking to Business Standard, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s executive vice-president, Mahesh Balasubramanian, said, “These two states are very important for us. Our total deposits in these states was Rs 2,200 crore and as far as advances are concerned, it was Rs 2,100 crore as of June 30.”

The total deposit of the Bank in these two states have grown over 50 per cent year-on-year as of June 30. Further, the saving bank account deposits have grown over 44 per cent year-on-year during the period. So, in order to further strengthen our presence and tap the potential, we are planning to add five-eight branches in these two states.”

When asked about the focus area in these two states, he said,“ We will focus on urban, semi urban and rural areas. These two states being a agrarian, we have plans to strengthen agricultural credit portfolio and will also deepen tractor finance. We will target to have strong foothold in consumer, commercial and wholesale banking in this part of the country which is in line with our national plan.”

The bank is planning to open 100 new branches, including 20 specialised branches for small and medium enterprises, agriculture, wealth and non-resident services across the country in the current financial year.

At present, the bank has an all-India network of 445 branches. “With the opening of 100 more branches, the bank will cross the 550-mark before March, 31 2014,” he added.

Meanwhile, the bank on Wednesday announced the launch of a specially designed savings bank account for children – ‘Kotak Junior’ to encourage them to save smartly from an early age. The offering is for children below 18 years. The account comes with several unique features like My Junior Card, and exciting offers which appeal to the young audience. Additionally, it also launched a 10-year recurring deposit, intended to provide a long term financial savings programme for children.

 
With the new savings bank account for children – Kotak Junior, parents can now build a long term savings corpus for the child. Through the account, parents can easily deposit money at regular intervals, invest those in recurring deposits, and even have a systematic investment plan (SIP) into mutual funds.

Further, parents can also avail a tax exemption of up to Rs 1,500 on minor’s income on savings account U/s 10 (32) in addition to tax benefits of Rs 10,000 U/s 80 TTA of Income Tax Act.