They join Air India, NTPC and Hero Honda in the Delhi 2010 Games family as its partners.

The deal with the bank, which was also a partner for the 1982 Asian Games held in Delhi, was signed between Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of New Delhi 2010, and S Sridhar, the chairman of the Central Bank of India.

Kalmadi said: "The Year of the Games has dawned and I am pleased to welcome India's first 'Swadeshi' [part of the Indian independence movement] bank as our official banking partner in India.

"The partnership will be mutually beneficial to us.

"The message and impact of the Commonwealth Games can be felt not just in Delhi but also across the country because the bank has a large network of 3,541 branches and 218 extension counters in 27 States and four Union Territories.

"Besides this they [the bank] will be selling tickets through all their banks all over India and I’m really very happy to associate with them because they have large number of banks in the rural areas.

"So that will help to spread the movement of Commonwealth Games to the rural areas.

"Truly described as a pan-India bank, due to its large network, Central Bank of India will find the Commonwealth Games a platform to help it realise Mr. Sridhar's vision of becoming a global bank.

"The Games hold interest not only in the 70 nations and territories but also beyond, especially in nations where a large number of NRIs [non-residential Indians] will be tracking the sporting contests.

"The bank will get a series of benefits from Delhi 2010 in return.

T S Darbari, the Commonwealth Games joint director general, said: "They will be getting free commercial space for advertising on television, signboards and other venues.

"They will also be handling corporate banking for us.

"All the venues and the Games village will have their ATM machines free of cost."

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