Mangalore: Bhavanthi Street, Mangalore has witnessed the opening of 1001th branch of Vijaya Bank. Speaking on the occasion Prakash P Mallya, CMD Vijaya Bank said that Vijaya Bank has shed its image of a small size bank and has grown to the dimensions of a mid-size public sector undertaking bank.

Mallya also noted that over the past one and a half year, Vijaya Bank has witnessed an unprecedented growth of 65% . The bank has set up a target of Rs. 76,000 crore of business this fiscal and is very likely to meet the target. By 2010 the bank is expected to reach a business volume of Rs. 1 lakh crore and will position itself as one of the bigger players in the market.

According to Mallya, the recent mergers and amalgamations in the banking sector are inevitable and as the market consolidates, only 6-8 bigger players will be left and the smaller banks will be absorbed by larger players. The overwhelming capital inflow from foreign countries and the tight measures adopted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to curb the excess liquidity in the market is putting enormous pressure on the and it is indeed a big challenge to keep the interest rates under control.

Vijaya Bank offers various deposit schemes, loans and advances, services for Non Resident Indians, remittance facilities, collection and a host of other services to its customers. Founded on 23rd October 1931 by late Shri A.B.Shetty and other enterprising farmers in Mangalore, Karnataka, Vijaya Bank became a scheduled bank in 1958. Nationalized on 15th April 1980, this bank has grown itself to an extensive network of over 1000 branches and has a nation wide presence with branches located in all the 28 states and 4 Union Territories in the country.