State Bank of Mauritius plans to open six new branches in India under WSO

State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) has announced to open six new outlets in India after it starts operating under a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) later this year.

The bank will soon operate as a banking subsidiary of SBM Group in the country under the name of SBM Bank (India) Ltd. The work for regulatory approvals from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for WOS is in its advanced stage. The bank expects to commence operations in September. The bank already has four branches in India.

Moses Harding John, CEO, India & East Africa, SBM Holdings said, with Rs 5 billion capital, the four branches would move to the subsidiary. The capital base of Indian operations is adequate to scale-up loan book to Rs 40 billion from the present level of Rs 10 billion. According to WOS rules, the bank is required to list the Indian banking unit on stock exchanges after three years.

SBM plans to launch six new branches in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur by next year. Currently, SBM operates four branches, in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ramachandrapuram an attempt to capture a wider market and increase its customer base.

The first priority is to stabilise operations of subsidiary and then expand the network to 40-50 branches in the country. But the plans are yet to be finalised, Harding John said.

The bank plans to target top Indian companies for cross-border business opportunities and stress on mid-market corporate and retail segment in domestic operations.

Besides establishing a domestic franchise in India, SBM expects to capitalise on its geographic network in East Africa and the Indian Ocean region. There is growing interest in trade and investment along the India-Africa corridor, where SBM can play an important role in financing and structuring, Moses Harding John further added.