Bank of Maharashtra wants to further expand it's business in North India, it's Executive Director R K Gupta has said.
This public sector lender is keen to grow more in North India and fully tap the potential that exists in this region, Gupta said here on Wednesday.
"We already have a pan-India presence in the sense that we have a branch in each State. However, in North, we are not that active as we could have been. We now want to expand in North and grow here", Gupta said.
He was in the capital to meet corporate customers (both new and existing) on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the bank.
C. K. Verma, Zonal Manager at Delhi Zone, said that the aspiration for Delhi Zone is to emerge as the No 1 zone for the bank in the country in terms of business mix.
Currently, the Mumbai city region holds the top rank, followed by Delhi zone.
Meanwhile, Gupta said that credit pick up in the economy was weak and expressed hope that credit demand would improve in the coming days.
Mobile wallet
Bank of Maharashtra would in the next three months launch a Mobile Wallet (M-wallet), Gupta said.
This will be an additional product for existing customers, Gupta said adding that the bank was already providing facilities like mobile banking and Internet banking.
"We want to further leverage on technology", Gupta told Business Line here.
Capital mop-up
Gupta said that the bank is expected to complete by mid-October the share issuance to the Government for the capital infusion of Rs 394 crore. This was the capital amount that Government had allocated to the bank under the recently announced 'Indradhanush' scheme.
"Our Board has already approved this", he said.
Apart from this capital infusion, Bank of Maharashtra has no other plan to raise capital this fiscal, Gupta said.
The capital adequacy of the bank will cross 12 per cent post the latest Government infusion of capital, he said.
The bank also proposes to take some initiatives to conserve capital, he added.
On Fed rate hike
Gupta said he expects the US Federal Reserve to hike policy rates at its latest meeting.
He also said that RBI may go in for 25 basis point cut in policy rate on September 29 and noted that markets had already discounted this.
Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in