HDFC Bank is setting up plans to strengthen its southern presence. The second largest private sector lender of the country is aiming at acquiring a south based bank in order to move ahead with its ambitions, a top official of the bank said.

"We may look for a merger of a bank in southern part of the country. But before it happens, we need to prove the efficiency of the merger of Centurion Bank of Punjab in the past," Aditya Puri, managing director of the bank said.

"There should be also willingness of both the parties for the merger to take place," Puri said.

A shareholder of the bank even suggested names of banks which could be considered by HDFC Bank for merger. Names suggested were of ING Vysya bank, South Indian Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank and Federal Bank.

Puri added that the bank also wanted to penetrate more into rural segments through the business correspondent (BC) model or telephone banking model.