After the initial years of being seen as a conservative wholesale bank that has recently turned aggressive in the retail space, Axis Bank has ambitious plans to become a universal bank offering services related to every aspect of finance.

?Axis Bank is currently growing at around 50% annually, and has 650 branches and 2,600 ATMs across the country,? says PJ Nayak, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Axis Bank.

The bank which was set up with a capital of Rs 115 crore; today is capitalised to the extent of Rs 357.48 crore with the public holding (other than promoters) at 57.03%. The bank enjoys a deposit base of over Rs 68,000 crore Axis Bank was among the first crop of private sector banks to set up shop when the Reserve Bank of India opened the banking sector to private players in the early 90s.

UTI Bank, as it was known then, began operations in April 1994 and attracted the most talented minds from across the banking industry, and largely from the country?s largest government bank, the State Bank of India.

The first chairman and managing director, Supriya Gupta, incidentally was the deputy managing director at SBI.

Having grown this far, the bank is constantly tapping newer business areas hitherto ignored by competitors. For example, Nayak plans to tap north-eastern states for generating higher revenues for the bank.

?We look forward to increasing our business in the north-eastern states of India, since our business growth in these regions at present, is faster than the growth witnessed in metros,? says Nayak.

Also, we aim to become a leading and dominant Asian bank within a span of five years from today. We wish to expand across Asia and in India mainly through the organic route,? he adds.

Agricultural lending is another area the bank is keen to focus on in rural India. The bank plans to tap tier-II and Tier-II cities with a target of 150 branches, adds Nayak.

The bank; promoted jointly by the Administrator of the specified undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (UTI – I), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation Ltd, and four other PSU insurance companies, i.e. National Insurance Company Ltd, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Corporation, and United Insurance Company Ltd, started off as a wholesale bank.

Until the tenure of Gupta (till 1999), the bank had treaded cautiously, as aggressive expansion was not the approach of the conservative management that had so many government-owned bodies on board.

With a mere 37 branches, the bank made inroads into corporate banking and was seen as a big relief by their clients so long used to serpentine queues and triplicate form-filling exercises at various PSU banks.

The change of guard after Gupta retired in 1999 took the bank to the next level-retail banking. Under the new chairman and CEO, PJ Nayak, a former IAS officer, the bank went on a rapid expansion drive.

Thanks to the strong foundation laid down by Gupta, Axis undertook massive expansion exercises to get into the retail space, as that became a cheaper source for funds.

The Q3 FY07-08 net profit of the bank rose by 66.20% at Rs 306.83 crore on an year-on-year basis. On an year-on-year basis, the net interest income rose by 91.12% at Rs 747.34 crore and the fee income rose by 80.91% at Rs 348.41 crore for the quarter.

The bank?s net interest income, fee income, and income from treasury activities currently account for 60%, 30%, and 10% share of the total income respectively.