Bharatiya Mahila Bank will follow an approach to inspire people with entrepreneurial skills, Usha Anantha Subramanian, the chairperson & managing director of the newly opened public-sector lender said.

The Congress-led UPA Government has created the Bharatiya Mahila Bank with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, as part of its efforts to empower women. The new bank will focus on lending predominantly to women; however, men will also be allowed to open accounts with the bank.

Anantha Subramanian said that the bank would help in tapping untapped potential of women, which had always been underutilized as an economic asset.

Speaking about the bank in a recent interview, Anantha Subramanian said, "We need to engage women economically. This bank's approach will be to inspire people with entrepreneurial skills. We will tie up with NGOs."

The bank will lend loans to women to help them become economically independent by pursuing vocations like toy-making and mobile repairs. The bank aims to predominantly reach women in rural areas of the country.

Presently, Bharatiya Mahila Bank is opening nine branches on Tuesday, though Delhi and Indore branches will not go live on Tuesday due to elections. The list of cities where the branches are going live today (Tuesday) includes Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Kolkata and Lucknow.

The bank aims to open 25 branches by end of March next year and add 75 branches every year after that.