EBL to open two branches in India

Eastern Bank is set to spread its wings to neighbouring India, the second Bangladeshi private bank to do so.

The local bank will open a branch each in Kolkata and Guwahati, it said in a posting on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website yesterday.

EBL has enlisted PricewaterhouseCoopers' Kolkata office to assist in getting the required licence from the Reserve Bank of India, an official told The Daily Star.

AB Bank Limited opened its first full-fledged overseas branch in Mumbai in 1996, while state-owned Sonali Bank has a branch in Kolkata.

EBL has 82 branches in Bangladesh and three representative offices in China, Myanmar and Hong Kong.

Each share of EBL traded at Tk 32.1 on the Dhaka bourse yesterday. In 2016, the bank gave 20 percent cash and 5 percent stock dividends to its shareholders.

EBL won the prestigious Bangladesh Business Awards 2010 that is jointly organised by The Daily Star and DHL Express.