Oriental Bank to focus on eastern India

Oriental Bank of Commerce will open two regional offices this week, including one in Bhubneswar as the bank focuses on eastern India to grow organically. "We will inaugurate the regional office in Bhubaneswar on December 9," a top OBC official told PTI.

The regional office would look after the bank's operations in Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar, he said. OBC will inaugurate another regional office in Pune, which will manage its operations in Maharashtra except Mumbai and Goa.

After increasing its foothold in the south through the acquisition of Global Trust Bank, the Delhi-based Oriental Bank of Commerce is now planning to expand in eastern region where it sees vast scope for business due to huge steel, power potential and port facilities.

The bank is targeting to open 25-30 new branches in eastern region in the next two years. Besides Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh also offer a lot of scope for business to banks due to presence of mineral stocks, the official said.

The expansion drive is part of OBC's plan to grow by 30 per cent by focussing on organic growth and technology upgradation.