BoI to set up subsidiaries overseas

Public sector lender Bank of India (BoI) has drawn up plans to set up subsidiaries overseas.

"We plan to set up subsidiaries in New Zealand, Uganda, Botswana and Canada," a senior official of the bank told PTI.

The official said that to meet capital requirements, the bank has the option to go for a follow-on public offer (FPO) as government holding was at 64 per cent.

"FPO is also an option. But nothing has been decided as of yet," he said.

About raising plans for the fiscal, he said that the bank would raise around Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 1,500 crore as Tier II debt, adding that it had a headroom of Rs 7,000 crore available with the bank.

Referring to credit growth, he said that the target for the full fiscal was 20 per cent year-on-year and 19.4 per cent for deposits.

The official said that the bank was targetting a net interest margin (NIM) of 2.9 per cent for the full fiscal.

He said the bank's also planning to take the number of branches to around 3,850 from 3,374 at present by March 2011 and the ATM count to 2,000 from 1125.

The bank's total business, both domestic and overseas, stood at Rs 4,19,000 crore consisting of Rs 2.40 lakh crore as deposits and Rs 1.80 lakh crore as advances.

In the domestic market, the bank enjoys a share of 4.20 per cent, the official said.

At present, it has 24 foreign branches and five representative offices.

As a part of financial inclusion initiative, the official said that the bank would engage 15,000 business correspondents by March 2013.

No-frills accounts opening would also be increased from 40 lakh at present to 1.25 crore by March 2013, the official said.