Allahabad Bank plans operations in NZ, Australia

Allahabad Bank said on Monday it plans to open branches in New Zealand and Australia in order to cater to the NRI population in these countries.

"We have plans to have presence in Australia and New Zealand but it would take some time to get its realized," Allahabad Bank Chairman and Managing Director A C Mahajan told PTI.

The bank has already opened a branch in Hong Kong and a representative office in China this year. The bank was hopeful of achieving a 23 per cent rise in its business volume at Rs 1,25,000 crore (Rs 1,250 billion) by the end of 2007-08 as against Rs 1,01,458 crore (Rs 1,014.58 billion) in 2006-07, Mahajan said in Mansa (Punjab) after opening the bank's branch there, 140 km away from Ludhiana.

As part of the bank's expansion plans in northern India, the Bank announced plans to open 30 more branches in Punjab, projecting a business growth of over 25

per cent from the state by the end of this fiscal.

"We would like to consolidate our business position in Punjab by opening at least 30 branches in rural and remote areas in the state in order to capture more growth from the agricultural sector," he said.

"In Punjab, out of total advances of Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) disbursed, the advances to agriculture stand at Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) which signify substantial growth and we would like to achieve a growth of 25 per cent only from Punjab," he informed.

The bank plans to open 30 more branches in the state this fiscal. Besides Punjab, the bank plans to open 163 branches across the country.