Saraswat Cooperative Bank has become the first bank of its kind to get a license from Reserve Bank of India for starting pan India operations in the country.

Speaking on the achievement, chairman of the bank, Mr Eknath Thakur, said, "The 93-year-old bank will be concentrating first on opening branches in the southern Indian states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, to be followed up by national capital region and northern states."

Thakur said that the bank aims to increase its branch network to 500 branches by 2016. It currently has a branch count of 216.

The bank is leading in terms of total business amongst all cooperative banks of the country with a total business mix of Rs 28,000 crore as of now.

The bank has recently taken over the disputed Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.