The Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) will have a branch in each State capital by March-end next year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.

This would mean expanding the branch network of the newly set up women-focused bank to 25 branches in the next four months, from the current nine.

Inaugurating the New Delhi branch and registered office of the bank here on Thursday, Chidambaram said, to grow quickly, BMB should think ‘out-of-the-box’ and invent its own business model other than branch expansion.

innovative model “We ought not to believe that growth for this bank will come only from branch expansion.

“The board has to develop its own innovative model for growth,” Chidambaram suggested, adding that it should look to outsource its activities to other organisations, especially those run by women.

BMB’s board of directors, he said, should also consider whether customers who are based 10-20 km from the branch can be reached through the use of technology.

Announced in this year’s Budget, the BMB started its journey in November with the launch of seven branches in various parts of the country. The seven branches opened on November 19, are located in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Guwahati.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit suggested that BMB could look at setting up mobile ATMs in thickly populated areas of the Capital so that access to banking could be improved for many women.

With today’s inauguration, at New Delhi and Indore, BMB now has nine branches.

MUM ABOUT NOKIA Chidambaram declined to comment on queries on Nokia India and its tax troubles.

The employees of Nokia India in Chennai had sought the Finance Minister’s intervention for sorting out the tax dispute between the company and the Income Tax Department.

Nokia India’s tax troubles are coming in the way of smooth integration of the telecom major’s Indian unit with Microsoft following its global deal.

>srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics