Tamil Nadu Timeline

Banking

14 events, 1836 to 2026.

  1. 1836

    1. 29 Sep 1836George Town, ChennaiEconomy

      Madras Chamber of Commerce founded

      The Madras Chamber of Commerce was set up at the Binny & Co. office by merchants from the Parry, Binny and Arbuthnot firms.

  2. 1843

    1. 1 Jul 1843ChennaiEconomy

      Bank of Madras formed

      The Bank of Madras, one of the three Presidency banks, came into being through the merger of several banks in Madras.

  3. 1904

    1. 31 Oct 1904KumbakonamEconomy

      Kumbakonam Bank, later City Union Bank, incorporated

      Kumbakonam Bank Limited was incorporated on 31 October 1904 as a regional bank; it later became City Union Bank.

  4. 1906

    1. 22 Oct 1906ChennaiEconomy

      Collapse of Arbuthnot & Co

      The failure of the Madras banking firm Arbuthnot & Co caused the worst financial crisis in the city's history and fuelled support for Indian-owned banks.

  5. 1907

    1. 15 Aug 1907ChennaiEconomy

      Indian Bank founded in Madras

      Inspired by the Swadeshi movement, the Indian-owned Indian Bank opened in Madras following the failure of Arbuthnot & Co.

  6. 1916

    1. 25 Jul 1916KarurEconomy

      Karur Vysya Bank founded

      On 25 July 1916 M. A. Venkatarama Chettiar and Athi Krishna Chettiar started Karur Vysya Bank for the traders and farmers of the Karur area.

  7. 1921

    1. 27 Jan 1921ChennaiEconomy

      Bank of Madras merged into the Imperial Bank of India

      The Bank of Madras, one of three Presidency banks, was amalgamated with the banks of Bengal and Bombay to form the Imperial Bank of India.

    2. 11 May 1921ThoothukudiEconomy

      Nadar Bank founded at Thoothukudi

      Founded at Thoothukudi, the Nadar Bank was later renamed Tamilnad Mercantile Bank.

  8. 1926

    1. 3 Nov 1926KarurEconomy

      Lakshmi Vilas Bank founded at Karur

      Lakshmi Vilas Bank was founded at Karur, one of several private banks started by Tamil business communities in the 1920s.

  9. 1937

    1. 10 Feb 1937ChennaiEconomy

      Indian Overseas Bank founded

      M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettiar founded Indian Overseas Bank to serve overseas trade, opening at Karaikudi, Madras and Rangoon.

  10. 1997

    1. 1997DharmapuriWelfare

      Mahalir Thittam extends women's self-help groups statewide

      The state funded Mahalir Thittam to form women's self-help groups in all districts, after an IFAD-assisted pilot in Dharmapuri from 1989.

  11. 2021

    1. 5 Feb 2021ChennaiAgriculture

      Rs. 12,110 crore cooperative crop loan waiver

      Ahead of the 2021 election, Palaniswami waived crop loans from cooperative banks for about 16 lakh farmers after cyclones damaged crops.

  12. 2025

    1. 19 Apr 2025KundrathurWelfare

      Kalaignar Kaivinai Thittam for artisans

      Tamil Nadu launched its own credit-linked subsidy scheme for artisans in about 25 trades after declining to join the PM Vishwakarma scheme.

  13. 2026

    1. May 2026ChennaiAgriculture

      TVK government's cooperative crop loan waiver

      Cooperative crop loans taken from May 2025 to February 2026 were waived by the Vijay government, a relief that eventually reached 14.43 lakh farmers.