YES Bank to focus on eastern Uttar Pradesh

New-age private banker YES Bank is now focusing on eastern Uttar Pradesh and will soon expand its footprint in the region.

At present, the bank has 12 branches (excluding the National Capital Region) in UP, mostly in western UP.

“Now, we want to serve the eastern UP region, especially Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Barabanki, Rae Bareli and Bhadohi,” Yes Bank senior vice president (retail banking and wealth management) Rahul Krishnatrey told Business Standard.

The company has plans to open five branches in UP by March 2010, mostly in eastern UP.

Besides, some branches would also be opened in other un-served districts of western UP, such as Meerut.

Pan India, the Bank has 123 operational branches and plans to ramp up the total branch network to 250 in the current fiscal. Majority of the branches are concentrated in North India.

Krishnatrey was in town to attend a workshop on ‘Direct Taxes and Foreign Exchange’ organised jointly by PHD Chamber of Commerce in India (PHDCCI) and YES Bank.

The participants in the workshop discussed the various aspects of Direct Tax Code and the shortcomings and lacunae in its Bill.

“We will continue to hold training sessions and seminars for our customers with a view to sharing views and getting feedback,” Yes Bank senior vice president (trade finance and service transaction banking group) Manindra Saxena said.

The Bank organises such knowledge sessions in association with different chambers, such as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), PHDCCI, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) etc.

Commenting on the foreign exchange operations of the Bank, Saxena said such transactions would only go up post December, when the world economy recovered from the aftershocks of the meltdown, especially in the US and Europe.

“We have ample opportunities for the retail foreign exchange operations in UP, especially commercial and tourist places like Moradabad, Agra, Varanasi, Lucknow, Ferozabad and Kanpur,” he added.