Andhra Bank will soon gain a national identity with the bank registering its presence from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, said the bank’s CMD C.V.R. Raghavan. He added that at the same time the bank would maintain its growth in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Addressing the bank’s customers after inaugurating a branch in Hyderabad, he said during the past 16-18 months the bank had added more than 600 branches. He added that the bank at present has 2,500 branches and in the next one or two years it will add 1,100 more branches, many of these branches outside Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. These two states, however, accounted for 51% of the business of the bank at present, he said, adding it would come down to 35%, with the growth in other states. He said the bank would focus more on retail lending. Rajendran also said that the worst period for the bank is over and it is doing business of Rs 2,85,000 crore, of which Rs 1,30,000 crore is advances. It expects to cross the Rs 5,00,000 crore mark in the next few years, he added.