Our Bureau

Mumbai , June 16

CENTRAL Bank of India has tied up with Tata Consultancy Services for a Rs 50-crore project to implement the core banking system (CBS) in 1,000 of its branches, over a period of five years.

The solution is being jointly implemented by the Sydney-based Financial Network Solutions (FNS), China Systems and TCS.

The implementation in 25 pilot branches is likely to be completed in six months. Most of the 1,000 branches are in metropolitan and urban areas, said Dr Dalbir Singh, Chairman, Central Bank of India. The bank would deploy its surplus staff in rural sectors, he added. Along with the centralised CBS, the bank is also going in for an expansion of its ATM network. In the last month, 97 ATMs have been set up and another 400 ATMs are likely to be set up in the next three to four months.

"The CBS, along with the ATM network, will give greater technical push to the bank," Dr Singh said.

Apart from Rs 150 crore for the CBS, the bank will also deploy Rs 65 crore for ATM expansion and Rs 50 crore for allied activities, Dr Singh added.

Mr K. Raghuraman, General Manager, IT, Central Bank of India, said CBS would enable better understanding of customer needs and cross-selling of products. There was also scope of earning fee-based income through technology, he added.

Speaking about the bank's plans to list in the stock market, Mr Raghuraman said the bank was likely to raise Rs 150 crore through an IPO. "This is just to test the market," he said. The IPO is likely to bring down the Government's share by 25 per cent, he said.

The bank, which currently has 23 regional rural banks (RRBs), was also likely to merge three of its RRBs in Maharashtra, he added.

Mr S. Ramadorai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TCS, said about 10 banks were likely to join the CBS network implemented by TCS.

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