Government plans to set up about 25 branches of the proposed public sector Bharatiya Mahila Bank, India’s first all women bank, by the end of this fiscal.
“The Bharatiya Mahila Bank proposes to complete the first six branches at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Indore and Guwahati by October 15 and take the total to 25 by March 31, 2014,” an official said.
The government has already approved Rs 1,000 crore seed capital for the women focused public sector bank, announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his budget speech.
The government is also on look out for locations to set up the branches, including at Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mysore and Indore. The proposed bank, to be headquartered at Delhi, is likely to be operational by November this year.
Reserve Bank of India gave its in-principal approval for the Bharatiya Mahila Bank in June and the banking company is being set up, the official added.
One of the key objective of the Bank is focus on the banking needs of women and promote economic empowerment.
Earlier in the month, the Finance Ministry had said it will seek Parliament in the first Supplementary to be approved in the ongoing Monsoon Session.
Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said had the initial capital of Rs 1,000 crore for the bank has been so decided that it is not capital constrained for expansion of normal business.