Central Bank of India is one of the oldest and largest commercial banks in India. It was established in 1911 by Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala[1] and was the first commercial Indian bank completely owned by Indians. The bank, with 13 others, was nationalized byIndian Government on 19 July 1969. [1] The bank currently has 3,168 the branches and 270 extension counters across 27 Indian states.
The present Chairperson and Managing Director, Ms. Homi. A. Daruwala, has initiated steps to bring this bank to a par with private-sector banks. She has taken decisions regarding computerisation, ATM services and core banking. The bank is planning to introduce core banking solutions (CBS) in 1,000 branches.
As of 31 March 2006, the bank achieved a landmark: crossing a business mix of Rs. 1,05,000.00 crores. The next target has been fixed at doubling this figure in the next three years. Krishnan Subharamaniam, Executive Director of the bank, in his message to staff members, has called upon them to achieve the target and suggested some steps. One of these steps is to change the manner in which employees extend service to customers across different delivery channels. He has advocated the adoption of the '3R' principles when dealing with customers - recognition, respect and response. This is asserted to be the path to make customers experience 'Customer Delight'. Subbaraman is of the view that to be able to achieve the coveted goal of at least Rs.2,00,000.00 crores in three years' time, it is urgent to add large numbers of new customers to the bank's existing portfolio. Central Bank also came with its IPO, which was oversubscribed 64 times. The bank has plans to change the bank's signboard across the country, trying to impart a new look to the bank after the IPO.
