The State Bank of India, Panaji branch has received heritage tag due to its association with Banco National Ultramarino(BNU). It is amongst the 18 branches in the country to have been designated with the heritage tag.

The corporate office of the banking major in Mumbai has selected the Panaji branch along with 18 other branches from all over the country from amongst the 13000 branches of the bank, says SBI Panaji's general manager Prasad Kamat.

"Panaji is the third branch after the branch at Fort, Mumbai and Nagpur. Pune will follow next," Kamat said.

"We also have old documents and artifacts from the BNU era. In 1962, when the SBI set up office in the BNU building, we also took over the BNU heritage villa at Altinho. There were crockery sets with BNU emblems at the villa which are also on display here," Kamat said.

"In 1986, another floor was added to the building. However, its heritage character was maintained," he added.