Paving the way for setting up of an all-women bank, the government  on Thursday approved Rs 1,000-crore seed capital for Bhartiya Mahila Bank Ltd.The government will seek Parliament’s nod for funds for the bank through a supplementary budget grant in the ongoing session.

The bank is likely to be operational by November.

Earlier this week, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena had said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that “it is proposed to solicit the approval of the Cabinet to include the allocation of Rs 1,000 crore to the Women’s Bank in the first Supplementary to be approved in the current Monsoon Session of Parliament”.

The proposal to set up the Bharatiya Mahila Bank was first announced by finance minister P Chidambaram’s in this year’s budget speech in February.

The proposed bank will be headquartered in New Delhi. It will start with 8 branches in North, South, West, Central and North Eastern part of the country, i.e.  the bank will have branches in eight cities — Calcutta, Guwahati, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mysore and Indore.

The bank is expected to become profitable in five years of its operation.  The government plans to set to open 100 branches within that period.

According to reports, the  initial cadre of about 125 officers of the new women-focussed bank will be selected on deputation from other public sector banks

The initial capital of Rs 1,000 crore for the bank has been so decided that the bank is not capital constrained for expansion of normal business, he had said.

The move to set up Bhartiya Mahila Bank is aimed at encouraging women in general and women self-help groups (SHGs) in particular, he had said.

The announcement to set up all Women’s bank was made by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Budget speech this year.

source:http://www.firstpost.com