Bharatiya Mahila Bank will open 16 more branches this fiscal, taking the overall branch network size to 25 by the end of March.

The cities, where the new branches of Bharatiya Mahila Bank will be set up during 2013-14, are Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Shimla, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Dehradun, Patna, Naya Raipur, Panaji, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Ranchi, Shillong, Gangtok, Agartala and Itanagar.

This recently launched commercial bank — focused on empowering women — has seven branches till date.

The eighth branch and also the bank’s registered office will be inaugurated by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the Capital on Thursday.

There will also be a simultaneous inauguration of Indore branch today.

The seven branches — opened on November 19 — are located at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Guwahati.

>srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in