Reserve Bank of India has given in-principle approval to set up the country’s first all-woman bank.
The proposed bank will be the first-ever commercial bank to be floated by the Central Government and is expected to have a pan-India presence with six branches to start with. The headquarters for the bank is likely to be located at New Delhi. The Government will initially pump in Rs 1,000 crore as paid-up capital of the bank.
Initially, the bank is likely to start with at least one branch in each major region – North, South, West, East, Centre and the North East. It will lend mostly to women and women-run businesses besides providing support to women self-help groups. It will predominately employ women and take deposits from both men and women.
The all-woman bank is expected to start operations from November, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had said recently.