Andhra Bank plans insurance joint venture, overseas expansion

Mumbai: Public sector Andhra Bank is working on a joint venture for entering the insurance business amidst plans for a major expansion in its overseas business. The bank is also planning to raise up to Rs400 crore debt in the current fiscal.

The funds will be raised through a mix of various debt instruments, chairman and managing director K. Ramakrishnan said on the sidelines of a banking conference.

"We have a headroom of Rs3,000 crore in both upper and lower Tier II bonds. And, we will not have any problem for the next two years. But, we do not have scope in Tier-I capital as government holding has reached 51 per cent,'' he said.

"We are currently present in Dubai and have drawn up a roadmap for a greater overseas presence in the US and the Middle East. A joint venture subsidiary in Malaysia is also underway with Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank,'' he said.

The bank will be able to tap the huge potential of Indians working in the Middle East after opening offices in the Gulf nations, Ramakrishnan said.

"We have already applied to US regulators for a representative office in New Jersey. We also wish to expand in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East,'' he said.