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Citizens of Mangaluru have expressed concern over the purported move of Corporation Bank to shift its major operations from the head office in Mangaluru to Bengaluru.
Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Saturday, JR Lobo, MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) from Mangaluru South, said that the Mangaluru-based Corporation Bank is planning to shift its head office to Bengaluru.
Though five banks originated from coastal Karnataka, Canara Bank and Vijaya Bank shifted their head offices to Bengaluru long ago. Lobo said that most of the major operations of Syndicate Bank have been shifted from Manipal to Bengaluru. Now Corporation Bank is also thinking on the same lines, he said.
Opposing the proposed move, he said a delegation of citizens from Mangaluru, including trade and industry representatives and politicians, will meet the Union Finance Minister to discuss this issue. Parliamentarians and union ministers from the region will be requested to bring pressure on the Centre to stop this move, he said.
A memorandum to the Board, prepared by the Premises Division of the bank, was released to the media by the MLA at the press meet. Though the memorandum (which has been marked as ‘strictly confidential’) mentions about developing two properties in Bengaluru, there is no mention about shifting the head office to Bengaluru.
The memorandum proposes to develop an administrative building on a three-acre parcel of land at Bangalore Hardware Park Industrial Area at an estimated cost of around ₹150 crore. There will be provisions for the cabins of chairman, managing director and executive directors in this proposed 850-seating capacity administrative building.
It also proposes to develop a staff training centre, and IT unit and other offices on a five-acre parcel of land at Bangalore Hardware Park Industrial Area at an estimated cost of around ₹200 crore.
Jeevan Saldanha, president of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), said that at a time when a prominent tier-2 centre such as Mangaluru is being promoted as a smart city, the exit of a major bank from the city will send a wrong signal to the investors.
The bank’s management did not respond to the queries on this subject.
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