east region of India.

EP: Sir, is this your first visit to the region?

M.N: Yes, as far as this part of the region is concerned. It is my first visit as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Bank and I take great pleasure in coming to this region because we have a lot of future plans for expansion here. Now, the number of branches of our bank is more than 30. Last year alone we opened four new branches and we will be presently opening two new branches. We are opening a new branch at Guwahati tomorrow and we are also going to open an ATM at Shillong.

EP: What is your impression of the north east?

M.N: The north east has a lot of potential for resource mobilization and similarly it has potential for micro and small enterprises and agriculture credit. There are a lot of pockets where banks are yet to reach. I was discussing with the regional manager and we are interested in starting ultra small branches where our business representative along with a laptop, a locker and a printer will become the liaison. We have tried this in south India and we would like to try this in this region too. So along with the physical branch and this type of ultra small branch, we will definitely be able to reach out to a larger section of the population. For us, this is an area with potential.
 
EP: What is the presence of Indian Overseas Bank in the northeastern region?

M.N: We are covering all north east states except for Nagaland. We are in the process of expanding here. We are identifying the centres and are trying to raise the number of branches to fifty within the next two to three years.
 
EP: Do you have any more diversification programmes in store?

M.N: We want to be the banker to the government in all the north east states. We have participated in Meghalaya power and have given substantial assistance to this. Similarly, there are a lot of central and state government programmes taking place here. Now, being a banker to them is in terms of reaching money to the beneficiaries’ accounts. Also when it comes to long term projects, whether it is in power, roads or providing infrastructure or in terms of any other initiative of the government, we would like to be there. Similarly, the medium and small enterprises, trade, agriculture and retail credit, these will be our focus. We are now totally having a business mix of one thousand four hundred crores and I am sure that in another two to three years this will become five thousand crores.

EP: How do you differentiate your bank from other banks?

M.N: One is customer service. We are very committed to customer service. In fact, Indian Overseas Bank’s theme is to be a ‘Customer Centric Bank’. Wherever we operate whether it is in north India or east India, the people love us. We have also recently come up with a slogan which goes as along with good people to grow with, Indian Overseas Bank should be touching hearts and spreading smiles. This is our platinum jubilee year. We have taken a lot of steps towards rural initiatives like the Indian Overseas Bank Sampurna whereby we have adopted four villages. We have also taken financial inclusion whereby all over India,  one thousand three hundred and eighty two villages have been adopted for financial inclusion. So we are the common man’s bank. Right from the opening of the bank, we have been a global bank and thus we are the bank that can connect anybody to the global community and the global community to anybody in India. In terms of that, we are planning to open another fourteen global branches. In the last eighteen months, we have opened more than six hundred branches and we have also increased our business from one lakh ninety thousand crores to three lakh twenty two thousand crores. So we are a rapidly growing bank. People from all over the country and also this region have shown us love and affection and we will be reciprocating this in our own manner.

EP: Just recently the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma has said that non-availability of timely financial services such as credit and loans from the banks has hampered rural development. What is your comment on this?

There must be proper reaching out in terms of money being spent here. This should reach the beneficiaries without any leakages so that they will have an opportunity to improve their living standards.

M.N: That is the right advice to the banks because the banks first need to reach out to the nooks and corners of a place where the people are residing and are engaged in some vocation or service or traditional culture of agriculture or arts or craft. We have to take care of these people. In terms of this, either through mobile banking, business representatives, satellite banking or some physical micro banks, we must endeavour to reach out to these people. So in terms of geographical area of the region and availability of bank branches, there are some gaps which need to be filled. So I think that the Chief Minister would have said that the banks should be a little more positive towards the customers, they should improve their delivery mechanism and they should also take care of the micro and small sector. In the micro and small sector, the Indian Overseas Bank got the award for best bank from the President of India last year by way of performance and this year we have a 40% growth in this sector. I feel that we have to take care of the lesser privileged sector so that they are given an opportunity to participate in economic growth.

EP: What is the CD (Credit Deposit) ratio of your bank in the northeastern region?

M.N: We are presently at 40% since we started operations in this region last year only but over the last year, the CD ratio has shown substantial improvement. As I mentioned, we are giving loans to the state government sector also and I am sure that we will have a plan to take this to 60% within the shortest time.

EP: Do you have any plan to improve it further?

M.N: Definitely otherwise I would not have come here. This is a very important place for me. We are recruiting a lot of people from here and more people should come forward to join Indian Overseas Bank in our endeavour of expansion and reaching out. I would like our regional office here in Guwahati to view all the north east states as very important in terms of expansion, reach, deployment and resource mobilization.

EP: What according to you is the prescription for the economic transformation of the northeastern region?

M.N: Everybody should play their role very effectively. Everybody should know their responsibilities. Secondly, every section of the population should be given an opportunity to come up in their life. There must be proper reaching out in terms of money being spent here. This should reach the beneficiaries without any leakages so that they will have an opportunity to improve their living standards. There are a lot of efforts in this regard. In fact the central government and the state governments are in the process of economic development. On my way from Guwahati to Shillong, I saw the road expansion which in itself will lead to a lot of movement of goods and transport. There is definitely a lot of economic activity to be done. Rural and herbal items along with other items and available resources can be harnesses for the growth of these states and India also. I think the banks need to play a very effective and responsible role here.

EP: Does your bank also get involved in social initiatives like the State Bank of India i.e. undertaking social services?

M.N: We were given the first place award for outstanding performance in the whole of India just two days back. This is an indication of our responsibility to the society. During our platinum jubilee year, all our branches have done a lot in terms of health, education, economic benefits, benefits to senior citizens and such. We will continue to be a part of the society in contributing to social development.

EP: Do you have any message to the people of the region?

M.N: I love the people here. They are very enterprising. I also love this scenic region and I am sure that Indian Overseas Bank will be a part of the lives of the people of this region and bring happiness to them.