Federal Bank Ltd. on Wednesday opened 29 branches, 26 in Tamil Nadu alone, to increase its business potential, the lender’s Chief Executive Officer said.
“We ended last year with 200 branches in TN. Now, it is 250, of which 26 were opened today,” said CEO Shyam Srinivasan. “This is the first time that we are opening so many branches in a single State,” he added.
These branches will focus on providing gold and kissan loans, SME loans and taking deposits. Retail, agriculture and MSME together accounts for 56% of the bank’s credit portfolio, while TN fetches 10% of its total business.
“We are not only strengthening our presence in TN, Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana, but also in the north and east. While the west and north have potential for corporate lending, south is known for commercial banking and SME loans,” he said.
The private lender had planned to open 100 branches in FY24 as against 75 in the year-earlier period, but had gone beyond and opened 140 branches taking its total to 1,500 branches.
Currently, the Aluva-based bank has 601 branches in Kerala, 250 in TN, and about 200 in the rest of the south.
Asked about economical viability of the new branches, Mr. Srinivasan said 80-90 branches that were opened in Tamil Nadu in the last 18 months had already broken even.
