Canara Bank has indicated that it was looking at acquisitions in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana where it has little or no presence.
Talking to journalists at the launch of 104 new branches by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Thursday, A. C. Mahajan, Chairman and Managing Director, said "We are looking at geographical synergy so that where we are not present we should have an inorganic growth." "The bank is deficient in the Western region basically in Maharashtra and Gujarat and we would start the due diligence process soon.
It would be done by internal team first," he added. The statement assumes significance in the wake of informal meeting of top five banks called by the Finance Ministry on the issue of consolidation on Thursday.
On the capital front, he said, the bank had sufficient resources to meet the business expansion. However, if the bank went in for acquisition then additional capital would be required, he added.
So far, the bank has not sought capital infusion from the government. Aggregate business has crossed the Rs. 3.50-lakh crore mark as on September 2009 to Rs. 3,50,740 crore comprising deposits of Rs. 2,04,248 crore and advances of Rs. 1,46,456 crore. For the current fiscal, it is aiming to reach aggregate business of Rs. 4-lakh crore.
