Kolkata, Feb 11 - State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) is expecting total business growth of about 24 percent over last year at the end of March 2012.

"We plan to achieve a total business of more than Rs. 6,50,000 crore at the end of March (2012). We are expecting a total business growth of about 24 percent year-on-year basis," Bank of Baroda chairman M. D. Mallya told reporters on the sidelines of "SME(small marginal enterprise) Festival 2012" here Friday evening.

Mallya said the bank will gain a domestic credit growth of 20 percent at the end of the current financial year.

Banks in the country are urging individual borrowers to secure their loans by purchasing insurance policies amid growing concerns that non-performing assets (NPAs) are likely to increase in the country.

The country's banks have enjoyed lower levels of NPAs. However, there are growing concerns that many borrowers might be unable to replay loans in the coming months. According to banking officials, both public and private sector banks are convincing their customers to buy policies to cover their personal loans and overdraft facilities.

Private sector bank, ICICI Bank has reported an increase of 20 per cent in net profit in the quarter till December 2011.

The bank reported the net profit at Rs. 1,728.10 crore in the quarter compared to Rs 1,437.02 crore in the same quarter previous year. The increase in net profit was mainly due to net interest income as well as decline in provisions on account of lower gross non-performing assets.

Indian private sector bank, Canara Bank has reported a fall of 26 per cent in its net profit at Rs. 876 crore during the third quarter of the financial year till December 2011.

The total income of the bank rose from Rs. 6,444.55 crore in the same quarter of 2010 to the level of Rs. 8,591.15 crore in the quarter till December 2011. The deposits in the bank rose 19.7 per cent while advances increased by 15.5 per cent during the quarter.

New Delhi, Jan 24 - After nearly two years of tight check on money supply to tame inflation, India's central bank took steps Tuesday to infuse more liquidity in the system by reducing a key rate in a bid to help industry out of the current downturn.

The cash reserve ratio (CRR), the amount against deposits which commercial banks have to keep as liquid assets such as cash, has been lowered by 50 basis points to 5.5 percent from 6 percent.

India’s central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not likely to change the key interest rates in the country during its upcoming policy review meeting on Tuesday.

The central bank continues to be concerned by the high rate of inflation in the country. It has increased its interest rates thirteen times since March 2010, in order to control the double digit inflation, which has remained high despite the tightening measures.

HDFC Bank has recorded a rise of more than 31.4 per cent in the third quarter year-on-year to Rs 1,430 crore backed by high growth in loans.

Net interest income for the country’s second largest private sector lender increased about 13 per cent Rs 2,945 crore compared to the same period previous year. The rise in net profit was a bit higher than expected rate of 28.5%.

The yields of Indian federal bonds remained almost unchanged as investors wait of the review by India's central bank, the reserve Bank of India (RBI) to determine actions in the market.

The 10-year benchmark bond yield was recorded at the level of 8.21 percent, down 1 basis point this morning at the time of reporting. A volume of worth 30.30 billion rupees were traded on the RBI's electronic trading platform, which is below the average of about 40 billion rupees traded in the first two hours.

Thrissur, Kerala-based South Indian Bank has reported an increase of 36 per cent in net profits to Rs 102 crore in the quarter till December 2011.

The private sector bank had recorded a net profit of Rs 75 crore in the same period of 2010. Its advances rose 7 per cent to Rs 25,050 crore in the October-December 2011 period while deposits increased 2 per cent to Rs 33,834 crore in the quarter.

The yields on India's 10-year bonds fell to its lowest level in two weeks due to perception that the country's central bank might increase cut interest rates for reversing the economic slowdown in the Indian economy.

The Union Bank of India, which is headquartered in Mumbai, has announced a announced a reduction in the minimum lending rate by 10 basis points.

The move from the state-run bank had surprised analysts and is likely to force competitors to follow soon. Union bank has taken the lead in cutting the rates at a time when all other banks are waiting for a sign from the central bank, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bank's prime-lending rate now stands at is 15.50%.

Banks in Singapore are improving operations in order to be ready to exploit the investment potential of the non-resident Indians (NRI) living in the city state.

The more than 300,000 NRI’s in Singapore have a investment wealth of USD 25 billion with a preference to invest in Indian securities and the Indian currency. According to a latest report in a media outlet, the number of NRIs with an appetite for investment in India is increasing drastically in the country.

India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced its decision to do away with the limit of Rs 50,000 per customer per day imposed on mobile transactions.

The limit on mobile transactions was imposed in 2009 by the regulator. Under the new rules, the banks will be allowed to fix their own limit on mobile transactions for customers in the country. The RBI had issued guidelines on mobile banking transactions in India in 2008 and had placed certain monetary restrictions on fund transactions.

The European Central Bank should launch a U. S.-style asset purchase programme if economic conditions change, executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said, opening the door to a possible policy shift at the bank to combat deflation. Bini Smaghi, who steps down from the ECB next week, told the Financial Times on Friday that, if required, "I would see no reason why such an instrument tailor-made for specific characteristics of the euro area should not be used." Quantitative easing would be appropriate "if ...

The Indian government has planned to borrow $9.5 billion or about 500 billion rupees from public sector banks in the country, a move that will help reduce the need to increase sales of new bonds and also allow market to maintain its growth.

Private sector bank, Yes Bank has announced that it is increasing interest rates for non-resident investors, a move aimed at attracting more customers in the segment.

The bank has increased the interest rates to 7% for over Rs. 1 lakh balance, for all Non Resident Savings Accounts. The bank will offer 6 per cent interest for balance up to Rs. 1 lakh.

Private sector bank, YES Bank has announced an increase in interest rates it offers on savings to its customers following deregulation of interest rates by the authorities.

The bank has increased the interest rates to 7% for over Rs. 1 Lakh balance, for all Non Resident Savings Accounts. The bank will offer 6 per cent interest for balance up to Rs. 1 Lakh.

State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Choudhuri, who is heading the consortium of bank lenders to Kingfisher Airlines has said that the banks are trying to help the airline to soft out its issues and are also open to extending the loans to the aviation firm.

He said that "everything is on the table" when asked if the banks are ready to provide extra loans to the cash strapped airline. Kingfisher Airlines has already grounded 15 aircraft after it was unable to pay for their maintenance and services, according to some repots.

The reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it believes that there is adequate level of liquidity in the banking system in India.

The comments from RBI deputy governor KC Chakrabarty came amid concerns that the increased interest rates in the country have died the banking sector of much needed liquidity. When asked if the RBI is considering cutting the cash reserve ratio (CRR) to ease liquidity crunch, he said that the central bank could use any of its tools at any time.

K C Chakrabarty , deputy governor, RBI said: "There is sufficient liquidity in the system. As for cash reserve ratio, the text books say that it is one of the tools that can be used... you should wait for December 16."

Indian lender, Bank of India is set to enter into a joint venture with AXA Investment Managers Asia Holdings Pvt. Ltd.

The two companies said in a joint statement that the new joint venture will manage the asset management business of Bharti AXA Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd. The Indian bank will hold a 51% stake in the venture and the remaining 49 per cent will be held by the AXA Group.