The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) today launched banking operations in India with the opening of a branch in Mumbai.

NBAD now has a presence in 18 countries around the world.

The India branch will provide wholesale banking services, covering areas of debt origination and distribution, project finance, trade finance and asset finance. The branch will offer expert advice in each of NBAD’s five key industrial sectors: energy, real estate, financial sector, transport and aviation, and retail.

Alex Thursby, Group CEO, NBAD, said, “Setting up in India is an important milestone in NBAD’s expansion across the West-East Corridor, and demonstrates the UAE’s strengthening ties with its second largest trading partner.

“The size of the economy, along with its rapidly growing consumer class, makes India a vitally important market to our clients and to NBAD. Indian government and Indian businesses recognise that growth will come from further investment in infrastructure where the level of investment required over the next three years is over USD 1 trillion.  NBAD is committed to facilitating the flow of capital into and from India through its network across the West-East Corridor.”

NBAD has been granted a full banking licence by the Reserve Bank of India. The opening of the Branch comes as NBAD completed the migration of an Indian corporate loan portfolio worth around $900 million from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Rajeev Pant, regional CEO for South Asia, NBAD, commented: “Local and international banks have an important role to play alongside the Indian government in setting in motion public-private partnerships and reviving stalled projects to meet India’s infrastructure development needs. NBAD is well positioned to facilitate investment towards infrastructure projects and contribute to India’s future growth potential.”

“Our on-ground presence will strengthen our long-standing relationships with Indian corporates and allow us to extend their reach into not just the UAE but across the entire West East Corridor.  Mumbai is one of the world’s megacities, and lies in the fastest growing region in the world, underpinned largely by the Indian economy,” Thursby added.

As part of the launch ceremony, NBAD will host in the evening the fourth Global Financial Market Series (“GFMS”) event to discuss “India on the rise: Funding the infrastructure build”. Held at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the forum will address the issues and opportunities relating to investment and financing of infrastructure development projects in India. – TradeArabia News Service