M. Balachandran took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of India on 09th June 2005. He was Executive Director of the bank before he became the obvious choice as the new Chairman and Managing Director. He was a General Manager in Bank of Baroda prior to joining Bank of India. Balachandran joined Bank of Baroda as a Specialist Direct Recruit Officer in 1970 after completing his Masters degree in Science. He started career as a Banker in the Tamilnadu and over the years, has gained rich knowledge of various aspects of Banking, covering Priority Sector Finance, Commercial Credit, and International Banking. In addition to various linguistic territorial exposures, he has had vast experience of managing different categories of branches, as a Regional Head and Zonal Head besides in the Corporate Office of the Bank. He is also credited with evolving Policies and Guidelines for enhancing the flow of timely credit to activities identified as national priority, particularly Agriculture, Rural Finance & SSI lending and has associated with the Committees of NABARD and IBA. He was the Chief Executive of Bank of Baroda's USA operations at New York, before he was elevated as the Executive Director.

Balachandran is well reputed as an astute administrator and a professional Banker with keen interest to make the Bank more competitive and preferred one, providing best financial solutions by technological capabilities and management of Human Resources. It is hardly surprising that the bank reported a 5.5 per cent increase in its first quarter net profit at Rs 171.74 crore as against Rs 162.69 crore in the year ago period. Balachandran, attributes this growth in profits to higher yields on advances, increase in low-cost deposit and focus on retail credit and SME sector. After Balachandran came to head the bank, the bank has seen astounding outcomes of his progressive planning. Total income for the quarter increased to Rs 1,858.9 crore (Rs 1,683.66 crore). Net Interest Income increased to Rs 558.96 crore (Rs 538.42 crore). Net NPA decreased to 4.18 per cent (2.57 per cent).

Deposits grew to Rs 80,492 crore (Rs 72,185 crore) and gross advances grew to Rs 57,992 crore (Rs 48,111 crore). Retail credit increased to Rs 10,769 crore (Rs 8,430 crore). Balachandran said, "Our cost of deposits declined to 4.03 per cent from 4.11 per cent last year, while yield on advances has increased to 7.32 per cent from 7.03 per cent last year." About the rise in deposit rates, Balachandran clarifies that as interest rates are firming up and liquidity is drying up, there is need to offer higher deposit rates. However, the bank would not do it in isolation, he added. For the fiscal 2005-06, he has targeted a growth of 18 per cent in deposit and 20 per cent in credit. For this, the bank will focus on low-cost deposits. "Our savings deposits will grow because we are technologically ahead. Internet Banking and ATMs will enable us to increase savings deposits," he said. Balachandran is also planning to set up a branch exclusively for government business in Nagpur, which will handle customs tax, central excise tax and CBTD collection. At present, the Bank's government business is Rs 27,000 crore a year. Bank of India, the first public sector bank to establish a foreign branch, would now open another five foreign offices and raise tier-II capital of Rs 3-5 billion (US$68.8-114.8 million) to improve its capital adequacy ratio. The bank, that already has 24 foreign offices in 12 countries, has decided to open another five offices in Belgium, China, Vietnam, Tanzania and Qatar.

It is almost sibyllic when Balachandran say, “I am not able to subscribe to the view that the retail bubble will burst. There are two ways of looking at it. Its contribution to the GDP is very limited and there is a tremendous scope for the retail assets to grow. Ever since we went into retail lending in a big way, many of the core sector industries like steel and cement have turned around because of the demand. In future there will be a lot of demand for retail loans, but what is more important is how we manage this. Retail per se is not anything that is causing concern, but the management of retail assets is an issue.” In addition to his plans, he has decided on a course of consolidation and keeps its options open for expansion both in the domestic and overseas markets. A visionary and a pragmatic realist, Balachandran has helped the bank increase its assets multi-fold during his tenure. He has not only brought respectability to the bank but has also augmented the human resources within the Bank. It is one of the reasons why the Bank has won people's trust and is one of the most favored institution in which people, industrialists and Non-resident Indians have been investing their hard money. And will continue so for long time to come.