Bangalore-based public sector lender Canara Bank today opened 104 new branches across the country to mark the 104th anniversary of the bank. The bank was founded on November 19, 1906, in Mangalore. The bank aims to scale up the number of its branches across India from 2966 to 3,000 branches by December 2009. The 104 branches were inaugurated by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi.
Of the 104 branches, 24 are in Karnataka and 14 in Tamil Nadu, while Andhra Pradesh got seven. The bank opened one branch each in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Four branches each in Gujarat and Kerala, five each in Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Three each are in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and 11 branches are in West Bengal.
These 104 branches comprise of 36 branches in metro, 22 in urban and 46 in rural and semi-urban locations. Out of these 29 branches are opened in under-banked districts.
With the inauguration of 104 branches on November 19, the bank has added 233 domestic branches during the present year so far, including three overseas branches in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai.