BoB to revamp decision making

Bank of Baroda (BoB) has appointed a taskforce for restructuring its decision-making process at its 2,700 branches.

The restructuring was being undertaken to align the bank's managers powers in tune with market needs, said A K Khandelwal, chairman, at the launch of its multi-city cheque facility in 16 cities across India.

The bank is also planning a big push for its retail loans operations and has decided to establish a second centralised processing cell in Navi Mumbai.

The bank has identified 40 clusters small and medium enterprises (SME) clusters in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for expanding its SME portfolio.

It has also entered into a tie-up with a government-run small farmers' organisation for providing venture capital and project development assistance programmes, Khandelwal said.

About the bank's international foray, Khandelwal said the bank has secured the Reserve Bank of India's approval for opening representative offices in Trinidad, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Bangladesh. The bank will make a conscious attempt at expanding its presence in the eastern region.

A beginning will be made with Kolkata, which, he said, is opening up to new businesses and is having several growth centres.

The bank also plans to add up to 500 more ATMs by the year-end to reach the 1000-mark and extend the core banking solution to 125 branches by March 2006.