BoB plans corporate house in Vadodara

Bank of Baroda (BoB) chairman and managing director P S Shenoy on Wednesday said the bank would construct a new corporate office in Vadodara, ending speculations about shifting the bank's head office to Mumbai from Vadodara.

The bank has its head office in the Mandvi area of Vadodara.

"We were borne in Vadodara and we are here to stay. We shifted some of the core departments to Mumbai to smoothen banking operations. But we have no intention to move our roots from Vadodara," said Shenoy. "This will strengthen our commitment to Vadodara," said Shenoy.

There have been speculations about the bank shifting its head office from Vadodara whenever the bank shifted its departments to Mumbai in past.

The proposed eight-storied corporate house will be constructed in the Alkapuri area on a plot of land owned by the bank. The bank is working out the details of the project.

The 2,000 sq ft office is estimated to cost Rs 21 crore. The bank will shift some of the back office operations to Vadodara from Mumbai.

"Back office operations have no limit of location. So we are positive about shifting them to Vadodara. But we will not disturb our front office set up," said Shenoy.

"The bank will soon open a subsidiary in Tanzania. We are also opening a representative branch in China to cater to over 150 Indian companies there," Shenoy said.

The bank is also planning to concentrate on local Chinese companies to gain from the fastest-growing Asian country and aims at making its global network stronger by increasing its presence.

The bank is also planning to focus more on agriculture and rural banking to capitalise on its wide-base in rural and semi-urban areas.