Tuesday, November 15 2005 14:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Competitiveness, consolidation and convergence will drive the banking industry in the future, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today (Nov 15, 2005).

"The quality of the organization is important and should be subjective to the discipline of the market," he said while inaugurating the 100th branch of the city-based Bharat Overseas Bank Ltd (BOBL), at Kilpauk locality, here.

According to him, in the future, competitiveness of the banks would depend on the service they provide and the service capability would largely be dependant on their size. "Customers will demand all services under one roof," he added.

Urging the banking sector to give importance to credit disbursement, he said, "Credit is the driver of the economy."

Speaking on the occasion, G Krishna Murthy, Chairman and CEO of BOBL, said the bank was targeting a growth rate of 30-35 per cent under the SME and retail-banking sector.

"We are targeting self-help groups (SHGs) and micro finance to increase our credit. We are poised for a stupendous growth and aiming at a business volume of Rs 12,000 crore by 2010," he said.

BOBL, which achieved a business volume of Rs 4,500 crore, is also aiming to double its branch network by 2010. The newly opened branch is BOBL's 35th branch in Tamil Nadu and 13th in the city.

The bank, having its overseas branches at Bangkok and Thailand, had recently declared 100 per cent networking of all its branches providing 'anywhere banking' facility.

T S Narayanasamy, CMD of Indian Overseas Bank, lauded theBOBL for its good performance.