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Bharatiya Mahila Bank aims to achieve a business of Rs 1,800 crore in the current financial year, its chairman and managing director Usha Ananthasubramanian said on Saturday. The bank, which was formed with a vision of economic empowerment for women, had a total business of Rs 175-180 crore at the end of March.
“This (2014-15) will be our first full year of operations. We are aiming to have a deposit base of Rs 1,000 crore and advance portfolio of around Rs 800 crore by the end of this financial year,” Ananthasubramanian told reporters on the sidelines of a banking seminar organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
She added that while the bank will mobilise deposits from all genders, it will prefer to lend mostly to women. The lender will also offer interest rate discounts on loans offered to women. The bank will focus on providing finance to retail, SME and mid-corporate sectors, but will also offer credit to large corporates through consortium lending.
The bank had commenced its operations on November 19, 2013 and currently has 23 branches across the country. It plans to add another 55 branches to its network in the next nine months.
While former finance minister P Chidambaram had indicated that the bank will open overseas offices in due course, Ananthasubramanian clarified that there was no such plans as of now. “It is too premature at this juncture,” she said.
