Examining options on raising capital: BoM

 Public sector lender Bank of Maharashtra is evaluating various options to raise additional capital to comply with Basel-III norms, according to the bank’s CMD Sushil Muhnot.

“Recently, our bank received capital contribution of Rs 800 crore from the Central government, we will raise additional capital in the coming months and are examining various options about it,” he told reporters here on Friday.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio is about 11 per cent.

Suggesting a paradigm shift in banking, he said that branches should generate business instead of just handling transactions.

Muhnot said that the bank will focus more on lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and retail business. 

 The bank’s exposure to retail business is about 11 per cent of its overall advances, and 16 per cent to MSME segment.  Its target is 15 per cent for retail and 20 per cent for MSME lending.

The bank’s zonal manager for Bangalore Zone, Ashok Y Shedshale said that the bank has a network of 63 branches in Karnataka and a business of about Rs 6,500 crore. It opened eight branches in Karnataka recently and plans to add two more by March 2014, Shedshale said.