Platinum Jubilee is a significant milestone for our Bank. It is an occasion to look back with pride on the long path travelled; on the achievements made and disappointments faced; on the rank and file on whose sweat and toil the Bank was built; on the leaders and stalwarts on whose shoulders we stand today; and on the policies and policy makers who charted the successful course of Indian banking.

The founder of our Bank Shri. M.Ct.M. Chidambaram Chettyar was not only a great visionary but also a far sighted businessman. In the late 1930s he saw a niche opportunity to extend swadesi banking to Indian traders venturing overseas for business, particularly in the South East Asia.

The fact that soon other banks followed the Bank's footprints in Asia and that today aggressive overseas expansion is a strategic plan of all banks, is a tribute to the prophetic founder.

IOB was the youngest and smallest bank to be nationalized in 1969. However it became the fastest to grow climbing up from the 14th position to the 7th position within a decade. Since then it has been positioning itself in the middle awaiting its moment to sprint.

Having gone through its triumphs and travails like any other bank, Indian Overseas Bank today, at 75, is a vibrant, youthful, futuristic and global bank enthusiastic to serve the country and the people with renewed vigour and sankalp. Over the long years the Bank has reached the hearts of the Indian people. It is time now to put a smile on every face.

We have a good branch network, a loyal clientele, a balanced portfolio and a state of the art technology. We should leverage these strengths to steer the Bank to greater heights in the future. Let us emulate not only the best practices of global banking; let us also adopt the best management practices elsewhere too to build a winning team and produce leaders of tomorrow who will energize, empower and execute the future of the Bank.

M. Narendra
Chairman and Managing Director
Indian Overseas Bank