Central Bank of India eyes expansion in Karnataka

Chief General Manager K A Somayajulu said the Bank has 103 branches in the State and is planning to add 37 branches more within the current financial year.

“We are aggressively persuing credit disbursal and expanding our branches to 4,000 from the current 3,849 spread across India, giving primacy to RBI stipulation on financial inclusion and priority lending target,” said Somayajulu.

“We have a total business of Rs 3,10,000 crore with Rs 180,000 crore of deposits and Rs 1,30,000 crore of advances.

The bank has lent Rs Rs 35,000 crore to priority sector which includes advances to agriculture and Small and Medium Enterprises  amounting to Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore, respectively,” he said.

Besides adding 60 more villages as part of the financial inclusion plan, the bank is selected by the Karnataka Government for e-payment of commercial taxes and central government’s Aadhar registration programme in the State.