IndusInd Bank opens Dubai office to tap huge NRI business

Monday, 20 October 2003, 19:30 IST
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DUBAI: IndusInd Bank, a new-generation Indian private sector bank, opened its first overseas office here Saturday to consolidate its service capabilities for its non-resident Indians and high net worth clients. With this, IndusInd Bank has become the third Indian private sector bank to open a representative office in Dubai after ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank to cater to the huge NRI business. India's top bank - State Bank of India - is also keen on opening a branch here, though its application is lying with the UAE Central Bank for several years now. While Canara Bank, a leading Indian bank, this week announced plans to open a representative office in Dubai as part of a strategy to expand its profile in the region. Bank of Baroda is the only Indian bank that has full-fledged operations here. Announcing the opening of the Dubai representative office at a press conference here Saturday, IndusInd Bank managing director Bhaskar Ghosh pointed out that India now features very clearly on the investment radar-screen of international entities, given the robust growth of the Indian economy and the country's judiciously liberal advancement towards globalisation, positioning India for a GDP growth rate of eight per cent in the coming years. "The objective of the bank's presence in Dubai is to service better its Gulf-based NRI clients and to focus on international business opportunities between the Gulf and the Indian region. The opening of our OBU will boost opportunities in the Private and Investment Banking areas," he added. Ghosh said the bank would focus on the remittances business as well, through relationships with exchange houses based in the Gulf. It will work towards tie-ups with selected local banks for the creation of cross-border assets and liabilities for mutually beneficial business growth. The bank also plans to open its London office soon to spread its service network to Europe. This move also facilitates the strengthening of its Gulf-based correspondent banking network for mutually beneficial business opportunities, he said. IndusInd Bank, in its tenth year of operations, has already firmly established itself as a wholesale bank with a balance sheet size of $2.08 billion and foreign exchange business turnover of $12.17 billion. The bank is also proposing to open its Off-shore Banking Unit in Special Economic Zone (SEZ), SEEPZ Andheri, Mumbai, by the end of this calendar year. Meanwhile, N. Kantha Kumar, executive director of Canara Bank, said the bank envisioned strengthening synergistic financial networks around the world, particularly the Middle East. He said the bank already has a wide network of correspondent banking arrangements and has been constantly improving its international banking activities in the region. In the UAE, Al Razouki International Exchange Company is managed by Canara Bank under a secondment agreement. It has eight branches in Abu Dhabi, Deira, Bur Dubai, Karama, Qusais, Jebel Ali, Sharjah, and Hor Al Anz.
Source: IANS
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