BOI announces domestic, overseas expansion plans

Public sector lender Bank of India (BOI) today announced its domestic and overseas network expansion plans.        

"We are in advanced stages of opening a subsidiary company in New Zealand, and branch offices in Johannesburg and Dubai. The company is expected to commence operation by Decemeber end," Executive Director Bank of India B A Prabhakar told reporters.

"Some countries do not issue licenses for opening up a branch office so in order to meet the regulatory requirements of the nation we have to open a subsidiary company," Prabhakar said, referring to opening of company in New Zealand.

"The bank's representative office in Johannesburg shall be upgraded into a branch office," Prabhakar said adding "Only last month we opened a branch office in Cambodia."

 

The bank's NRI deposits touched Rs 700 crore mark in Ahmedabad zone alone, with 46 per cent investments coming from Kutch and districts of central Gujarat.

The bank holds RBI approval for opening representative offices branches in Doha, Karachi, Egypt, Madagascar, Canada, Cambodia, Vietnam, besides few other country.

"We are also in the process of opening 200 branches and 500 ATMs across the country, out of which 19 new branches and 25 ATMs shall be opened in Gujarat," Prabhakar said.

The bank has network of 3038 domestic branches, 24 foreign branches and five representative offices overseas. In Gujarat the bank has 260 branches and network of 44 ATMs.        

Referring to the credit scenario in country, Prabhakar said, "demand for credit is sluggish, but its not the same for all sectors."        

"The Oil companies are not borrowing this year because they are comfortable with price realisation of petrol and diesel, thereby adding to declining credit," he said.        

Barring the oil sector, other segments like infrastructure, auto, SMEs are doing well, he added. 

The credit off take in agriculture sector has also been impacted due to poor monsoons, Prabhakar said.The bank's argiculture credit grew at 20 per cent last year, and we expect growth of 17 to 18 per cent this year. Its exposure in agriculture sector is 18.5 per cent out of its entire credit portfolio.

In first four months of this fiscal we have seen a growth in the housing and auto sector, Prabhakar said adding "this year we expect credit growth of 25 per cent in the housing sector, 50 per cent in auto, and 26 per cent in SME."

We expect the credit off take to improve in the coming quaters, especially ahead of festivals, he added.