State-run, Punjab National Bank (PNB) seem to expand its overseas operations for which it has recently opened a branch at Leicester in Britain.

Leicester is an area where majority of the people are Indian and the bank has opened the branch in the Belgrave Commercial Centre which is located in Golden Mile - the heart of Asians business and culture. The area is popularly known as ‘Little India'.

The bank branch was opened by Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Manjula Sood and it is going to start with a staff of 5 members. During its first year of operation, the bank targets to attract deposits worth 25 million pounds.

Chairman and Managing Director of PNB, Kamalesh Chakravarty said, "We are looking at the long term. The credit crunch has had an effect in India but not on the scale seen in other parts of the world."

In May 2007 PNB had started its operations in Britain and presently it has branches operational in Southall and the City of London. In the coming times PNB plans to expand its presence in the region by opening new branches in Birmingham, Manchester, Wolverhampton and London.

PNB was supported by Invest Leicestershire and the East Midlands India Business Bureau to start its branch in Leicester.

Recently the bank has also opened a banking arm in Bhutan under a joint venture named Druk PNB Bank Ltd.

PNB is the second largest public sector bank in India with a customer base of 38 million and 4,600 branches.

Chakravarty said that the bank is expecting to make a profit of around 500 million dollars during the current financial year.