IDBI plans Rs 200 crore capex for IT integration

Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has budgeted Rs 200 crore for integrating its information technology platform with IDBI Bank. The money will also be used for scaling up IDBI's IT infrastructure to bring it on par with that of the merged IDBI Bank.

IDBI's corporate head-technology, Sanjay Sharma, said, "After the merger, we needed to undertake a huge expenditure towards technological upgradation, given that we are doubling the existing network of branches and ATMs. We plan to establish a level-III data centre sprawling over 12,500 square feet at Belapur in Navi Mumbai." The data centre has been planned taking into consideration IDBI's decision to acquire another public sector bank once the integration process was over.

Sharma said the IDBI will also carry out a 100 per cent replication of the Belapur data centre in Chennai, which will function as a disaster recovery (DR) site. Banks normally replicate 50-80 per cent of their original data size at their back-offices.

In order to integrate its treasury operations, the bank is setting up a specialised dealing room at the IDBI headquarters at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai.

The dealing room will accommodate around 70-100 dealers and will be connected to the Belapur data centre. Dealers currently operating from the dealing room of the erstwhile IDBI Bank at Lower Parel in central Mumbai, will shift to the new dealing room. IDBI will shift all other officials based at the Lower Parel office after the lease for the space expires.