According to a recent press report, Indian overseas Bank has planned to establish another branch in Bangkok.
According to Mr. M. Narendra, the Chairman and Managing Director of IOB, the bank has applied to the Reserve Bank of India for its consent to open one more branch in Bangkok. He added that the Thailand authorities have agreed for the proposal and this would be the second IOB branch in Thailand. He also said that IOB is the first to bank to establish a branch in Bangkok.
The bank has devised strategies for its operations overseas by consulting the consulting firm, Deloitte and the bank is currently trying to implement those strategies. The bank has also planned to open up a branch in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and it would approach the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) soon for the regulatory consent. The bank has previously applied for the up gradation of its representative office in Dubai (outside DIFC) and is waiting for the response from DFSA.
The bank has also applied and waiting for upgrading its representative office into a branch in Vietnam and also in China to open a full-fledged branch. If the bank establishes a branch there in Vietnam it would be the first ever Indian bank to acquire bank licence there.
Besides, IOB has also planned to open 400 domestic branches this fiscal of which 40 would be special branches. RBI has provided consent to open 180 branches. Reports also said that IOB’s loan book grown 41 per cent in 2010-11 compared with 6 per cent in 2009-10. The bank offers home loan, personal loan, car loans, gold loans, education loan etc.