Mumbai (PTI): Eyeing a bigger share in the domestic market, private sector lender Bank of Rajasthan will ramp up operations and is planning to raise Rs 250 crore by way of private equity placements for funding expansion.

The bank plans to scale up its presence in the domestic market and has sought RBI approval to open 30-35 branches in FY'09, taking its total branch strength to around 500 from the current 463, bank's Managing Director and CEO P L Ahuja said.

With a view to finance its expansion programmes, the bank is looking at raising around Rs 250 crore by way of private equity placements and is in talks with a few fund houses, he said.

Besides, the lender has targeted a 25-27 per cent growth in advances in FY'09 while its deposit-base is expected to grow by nearly 25-26 per cent, Ahuja said.

It has chalked out its business strategy for this fiscal, primarily focusing on strengthening its non-interest income and low-cost deposit base,

"Increasing the fee-based income would be a key focus area of the bank, which would support our business growth even when the interest-earning comes under pressure on account of high interest rates," he told PTI here.

The bank, which is currently operating in life and general insurance businesses through distribution tie-ups with Aviva Life Insurance and United India Assurance respectively, aims to enhance these segments through better delivery models, he said.

BoR is also in pact with Birla Mutual Funds for distributing mutual funds products.