Central Bank expects more visibility from C'wealth Games

The XIX Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in October this year has already generated a business of Rs 5,000 crore in the form of deposits for Central Bank of India, the official bankers of the games, according to Vijai Misra, its deputy general manager.

It is expecting to garner a substantial number of current account and savings account (CASA) deposits as all the funds received by the games organising committee by way of government funding, sponsorship amount, ticket sales, television and merchandising rights and lottery will be routed through the bank.

Misra, however, said Central Bank, by becoming an official banker, was more interested in gaining "visibility" than generation of additional business.

In an informal chat with mediapersons here on Wednesday, Misra said the bank had already opened a branch and was planning to open four more branches in Delhi to cater to the needs of the games. It proposes to undertake sale of tickets and was making arrangements to put in place e-payment gateway and IVR phone banking gateway to facilitate sale of tickets.

One of the top five bankers in the country, Central Bank is gearing up to celebrate its centenary year from December 21, 2010. In 2009-10, its total business stood at Rs 2,69,225 crore, registering a growth of 23.5 per cent over the previous year’s business of Rs 2,18,012 crore. It proposes to open 1,500 ATMs across the country in the current financial year.

Misra, who is the head of Hyderabad zone comprising the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, proposes to open two more branches in the city this year taking the total number of branches in the state to 145. The Hyderabad zone accounts for a business of Rs 12,762 crore.