Dhanalakshmi Bank plans to launch venture capital fund & AMC biz

Dhanalakshmi Bank, Thrissur-based lender official informed that next year bank is planning to launch a venture capital fund and an asset management company (AMC).

Dhanalakshmi Bank Managing Director and CEO Amitabh Chaturvedi told reporters, "We are planning to launch our venture capital fund in the first-quarter of the next financial year while the asset management company will be floated in the last quarter of this fiscal".

He told bank is hoping to receive regulators approval for both its businesses by December.

He informed Dhanalakshmi Bank will be first floating a wholly-owned venture capital company which will launch the venture capital fund.

Chaturved told the bank has to yet finalize the business model of the venture capital fund and added that, "the initial corpus of the fund will be $150-million."

He declined to reveal any further details and said, "The AMC business would be through a joint venture with an existing player".

Dhanalakshmi Bank with an aim to establish itself to a pan-India bank from a regional bank, it is planning to re-work on its branch and ATM networks across the country.

At present the bank has a strong base in the southern part of the country, and has 207 branches which include 26 extension centers.

"We want to have a pan-India presence and hence will be opening 66 branches across the country by the end of 2009," Chaturvedi said.

Out of 66 branches, Dhanalakshmi Bank has recently opened 27 branches in states such as Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, among others.

"We presently have 78 ATMs and in the next 10 days we will be launching 100 more across the country," he said.

"We are on a growth path and will create a solid institution at Dhanalakshami Bank," Chaturvedi said.

Regarding RBI's monetary policy which is to be announced later this month, he said that no major announcement is expected.

"There is enough liquidity in the system and credit has just started picking-up. I do not expect any rate change in the policy," Chaturvedi said.