Andhra Bank Looks At Insurance Partner

Hyderabad-based Andhra Bank is looking for strategic partners to foray in life insurance sector by the end of the financial year 2007-08. The bank plans to hold at least 26 per cent stake in joint venture company, and Bank of Baroda was one of the potential partners for the project. This apart, the bank plans to open representative offices Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar by the end 2007-08.

The bank plans to open its second overseas office in New Jersey after the necessary approvals from the US government. Currently, the bank has one foreign office in Dubai, and is looking for a presence in Malaysia in alliance with with the Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank. Domestically, the bank plans to open 85 new branches and 200 ATMs this year across the country. Nearly 50 per cent of the branches would be in rural areas. At present, the bank has 1,303 branches in the country, with nearly 900 in Andhra Pradesh. With the current business of around Rs 70,000 crore, the bank plans to reach the 1 lakh crore mark by the end of 2009. Also, this fiscal the bank is looking at 25 per cent and 23 per cent increase in credit and deposit respectively. The bank has identified education and housing as priority lending sectors, and plans to decrease the lending rates in the two sectors by 25 basis points across segments in the coming months. Last year the bank disbursed Rs 1,000 crore as education loan, and Rs 3,900 crore as housing loan. With the headroom of around Rs 3,000 crore, the bank plans to raise Rs 400 crore in the tier II category by December 2007.