State-run, Bank of India (BoI) plans to increase its presence across the country and therefore it is going on an expansion mode by setting up around 150 branches during the 2009 fiscal.

Executive Director of BoI, M Narendra informs that the bank's target for the fiscal was 100 branches and it is going to open its 83rd branch in Kerala at Pala on March 28th. In February end, the bank opened its 82nd branch at Thodupuzha, Kerala.

This year, the bank has opened four branches in Kerala at places including Kanjhangad, Thodupuzha, Pala and a service branch in Thiruvananthapuram. BoI had a target of Rs 4,000 crore business in the 2009 fiscal and out of this it had made a total business mix of Rs 2,924 crore in the state.

The bank has a total business mix of Rs 3,07,835 crore in the country and it proposes to complete its core banking network by the end of June 2009. The first fully computerized branch of the bank in India was started at Mahalakshmi, Mumbai.

Meanwhile Narendra said that the bank has permit from the RBI to set up offices in the foreign countries including Egypt, Madagascar, New Zealand and Cambodia. All these branches are expected to be opened in the next one to two years. The bank also started a branch in China in 2008.

Besides, the bank has approved 127 villages for extending various services such as drinking water, drainage and education.

Presently the bank has more than 3,000 branches spread across the country.