Vijaya Bank set to expand

Vijaya Bank has surpassed the small-size stage to become a mid-sized PSU bank, CMD Prakash P Mallya said.

Speaking on the eve of opening the bank's 1001th branch at Bhavanthi Street, Mangalore, Mallya said the bank had registered an unprecedented 65 per cent growth over the last one and a half years.

The total business target for this fiscal was Rs 76,000 crore which the bank was likely to meet he said and added that the bank was likely to join the 'big league' by 2010, and touch a business volume of Rs 1 lakh crore.

Expressing his views on the proposed 'mergers' and amalgamations in the banking sector, Mallya, said it was inevitable and this would leave only 6-7 big players in the fray.

The rate of interest regime was a challenging one to handle in the economy considering the overwhelming capital inflow from outside, he observed. His bank would definitely make appropriate provisions following the credit policy review by the RBI on January 29, Mallya said.