Allahabad Bank to raise Rs 1,400 cr in H2 FY11

Allahabad Bank plans to raise up to Rs 1,400 crore in Tier-II during the second half of the current financial year 2010-11.

"We have headroom for Rs 2,600 crore and we are planning to raise around Rs 1,400 crore during the second half of the year. We have not finalised the timing of the issue," Allahabad Bank chairman and managing director J P Dua told PTI.

Asked about overseas expansion of branches, Dua said the bank has applied for the Reserve Bank of India�s approval for three branches in Shanghai, Dhaka and a second branch at Kowloon in Hong Kong.

"We hope to make these branches operational in the next six to 12 months," he said. The bank will open 47 domestic bank branches during the fiscal.

Speaking about business growth, Dua said the bank was targeting a total business of Rs 2,20,000 crore during the current fiscal, with a growth of around 25 per cent over 2009-10. "We will cross the Rs 2,00,000-crore business mark by December."

Speaking at an ICC organised seminar on MSME financing, Dua said to push the MSME sector, Allahabad Bank has opened 18 special branches for it, out of which four are based in West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the bank has decided to keep the base rate unchanged inspite of hike in key rates by 25 basis points recently.