SINGAPORE, Mar 14: A Singapore bank is actively looking to expand in India by converting its branch-based operation into a subsidiary.
“India is one of the core markets and our objective is to get deeper into the market,” said Amit Sinha, Managing Director and Head of Telecommunications Media & Technology at DBS Singapore.
Asked about the potential acquisition of a bank in India, Sinha said that DBS would be going for organic growth by setting up more subsidiary-based branches and the soon to be launched digital strategy or virtual banking in the Indian market.
Elaborating on the subsidiary plan, he said the Singapore parent group of DBS would become a holding company and convert the branch operation in India into subsidiary which would allow it to set up more subsidiaries in India.
Currently, DBS operates branches under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, a bilateral trade pact between India and Singapore which sets up various business structures.
Sinha said it was not enough to serve major markets of Mumbai and Delhi with single branch as it is the case for now.
Adding to its growth strategy would be the digital banking, which was launched in Singapore recently.
“Digital could be a new ball game. It could be mass influence on retail,” Sinha said on the sidelines of the “Emerging India Forum 2015” organised by an Indian media house in Singapore last night.
DBS currently focus on Small and Medium Enterprises and Corporate banking in India.
Sinha said DBS had a good growth of 15 per cent to 20 per cent a year in the last four to five years.
“We still see India as a very core market for us and (how) we can grow beyond that. We are working on (the digital) and we will launch it sooner,” he said. (PTI)
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