PNB pens plan for overseas presence

Lack of a strong overseas presence is perhaps the only weak point for Punjab National Bank (PNB), said K C Chakrabarty, executive director of the bank in Ahmedabad. The bank plans to focus on overseas operations in the near future, he said.

Providing an indication of the possible target countries, Chakrabarty said that being a north India-based bank, PNB will focus its efforts on countries where north Indians have moved and also countries with high trade volumes with India.

At present, PNB has a branch in Kabul and representative offices at Shanghai, London and Almaty in Kazakhstan.

"Another representative office at Dubai is on cards, while we are opening a subsidiary at Kazakhstan along with Allahabad Bank," he added.

Chakrabarty said that some counties where the bank wants to strengthen its presence are Canada, UK, Sri Lanka, China and the Middle East.

"We intend to enter a few countries in the coming months, while strengthening our representative offices where we are already present, because it makes little sense to just have a representative office. But seeking permission from the regulator in India and also other countries is a long drawn process," he said.

Meanwhile, strengthening the country network, Chakrabarty said that a sum of around Rs 350 crore has been spent so far on the core banking solutions (CBS) platform and by 2007, all branches will be brought under the CBS platform with an additional investment of around Rs 200 crore.

He added that the bank has already achieved 100 per cent computerisation and 850 branches have been interconnected in 170 cities and towns, offering "anytime anywhere" banking.