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Bank of Baroda to expand its Gulf operations

The plans include opening branches in the other four GCC countries, starting with Bahrain very soon; launching a new outlet, a deposit-linked insurance scheme and Internet banking in Oman; and the establishment of a Regional Syndication Centre in Dubai.

One of India's first financial institutions to extend operations outside the country, the bank's overseas offices now contribute 20 per cent of its business and 29 per cent of profits.

"The GCC is a very important area for us. It plays a crucial role in our international operations," Ashok K Gupta, the bank's Dubai-based Chief Executive, UAE and Oman, told a Press conference here, also attended by L Chandrasekaran, Chief Manager, Oman, and Hardik Gharekhan, Branch Manager, Muttrah.

Gupta was visiting Muscat to take part in the bank's centenary year celebrations, marked with a gala reception at a city hotel on Wednesday night presided over by Central Bank of Oman Executive President Hamoud bin Sangour Al Zadjali.

"We have been given in-principle approval to launch wholesale banking operation in Bahrain," Gupta said, adding: "We plan to open our branch there in the next three to four months." The Qatar branch is expected to materialise within three months after Bahrain, and the focus will then shift to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

"We aim is to have a presence in all the GCC countries," Gupta said, adding that elsewhere, the bank would set up offices in Australia, Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago in the next two months. "By March next year we will be present in 46-47 countries... Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Russia and Mozambique will follow later," he added.

He said BoB, which at present has branches in Muttrah and CBD Area in the capital and Salalah in the southern region in Oman, planned to open its fourth outlet in the country in Sohar. "We have already applied to the Reserve Bank of India. Once we get the RBI go-ahead, we will apply to the Central Bank of Oman," he added.

Gupta said the bank would soon introduce a deposit-linked insurance product in the Sultanate after it received the regulatory approvals, expected within a month. Internet banking and more ATMs, at offsite locations, are also in the offing.

An evening remittance counter at the Muttrah branch, working from 4.30pm to 7pm, will be another imminent development. Gupta said the service would be extended to the other two branches at a later stage, also revealing plans to introduce the concept of Friday banking in the country.

The bank recently launched a 'Rapid Funds2India' fast money transfer service in Oman, under which customers here can send money instantly and free of cost to some 1,100 of its branches in India covered under the Core Banking Solution (CBS).

The scheme also applies to over 30,000 branches of other banks covered by India's National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system, in which case the money will be transferred within a few hours.

"We are very active in both the UAE and Oman... Our operations in both countries are quite profitable," Gupta said. He noted that although the bank was initially only catering for only the Indian community, it had now broadbased its customer base with an increasing number of nationals.

He said the bank would soon set up a Regional Syndication Centre in the UAE to serve its large corporate clients and focusing on loan syndications and investments. BoB currently has a Global Syndication Centre in London.