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NT Bureau
Chennai, Dec 23:
 

H A Daruwalla, chairperson and MD, Central Bank of India exchanging a marketing agreement with Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director, Tata Asset Management Ltd.

        Tata Mutual Fund, has signed a marketing agreement with the Central Bank of India (CBI), for distributing its Mutual Funds nationally. As a consequence of this strategic tie-up, to start with, CBI will distribute Tata Mutual Fund's various schemes, through only 300 branches spread across the country.

        Speaking to reporters, H A Daruwalla, chairperson and MD, Central Bank of India, said, 'Central Bank of India is one of the leading commercial banks under public sector. Established in the year 1911 on 21 December by the legendary Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala as the first Swadeshi Bank, it is a pioneer in introducing various banking services in India. It has a strong network of 3168 branches spread across the country. Central Bank and the house of Tatas have a historical relationship. When the Bank was nationalized in 1969, Tatas were the major shareholders. Even today, we are one of the Bankers for Tata group companies, and have strengthened our relationship with the group in the recent past.' Central Bank has set a corporate vision to emerge as a strong, vibrant and pro-active bank with a customer-centric approach. The Bank has achieved a total business of Rs 1.06 crores during the year ended 31 March 2006 by registering an overall business growth of 19 per cent. The Bank's business stood at Rs 1,19,466 crore as of September 2006. It has a goal of reaching business of Rs 1.30 crore during the financial year 2006-2007.

        With a view to offer all the financial products under one roof, the Bank has tied-up with Life Insurance Corporation of India and The New India Assurance Co Ltd. for selling life and non-life insurance products respectively, in all the branches. The bank is selling the products of UTI mutual fund and we are happy to enter into a partnership with Tata Mutual Fund for distribution of their mutual fund products through our vast network of branches. We hope this relationship will grow from strength to strength in the days to come.'

        Talking about the strategic distribution tie-up with CBI, Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director, Tata Asset Management Ltd, said, 'this is a unique opportunity for us to serve a large number of investors to enhance the long term yield on their savings.'