Canara Bank is planning to expand its overseas presence and will add 14 new branches in overseas locations in the next two years. R.K. Dubey, CMD, said the bank is opening a branch in Johannesburg in the next three months, followed by those in New York, Dubai and Frankfurt by September 2014. With these branches, he said the bank wants grow its share in the overseas markets. Currently, overseas revenue contributes 6% and with this expansion it is expecting to grow this to 15-20% in the next two years. He also said proposals for opening branches in Sao Paolo, Dar-es-Salaam, Tokyo, Abuja, Jeddah, Qatar, Sydney, Ontario, Wellington and Singapore are awaiting regulatory approvals. Currently, the bank has five branches – London, Leicester, Hongkong, Shanghai and Manama and three representative offices overseas.
Dubey also said the bank is adding eight new circles (34 at present) in Jalandhar, Gurgaon, Indore, Varanasi, Raipur, Kochi, Tirupati, and Salem by April 2014, and plans to increase the branch-network from the current 4,500 to 5,500-6,000 in the next two years. The bank has opened 796 branches this year. Currently the bank has 56 e-lounges and will add three more in Pune with new e lounges at Nashik, Kolhapur and Aurangabad.
