Citi plans major capital infusion in India by Mar: Official

With a view to strengthen its foothold in the domestic market, the American banking major Citigroup is planning to infuse a "substantial amount" of capital into its Indian banking operations by next month, a top bank official said.

With a view to strengthen its foothold in the domestic market, the American banking major Citigroup is planning to infuse a "substantial amount" of capital into its Indian banking operations by next month, a top bank official said.

HT Image

"We plan to infuse a substantial amount of capital into our Indian operations by March. This will equip us in a better way to go ahead with our business expansion in Mumbai," the official, on condition of anonymity, told PTI in Mumbai.

Though the official declined to divulge the specifics of the investment plan, sources say fresh capital infusion could be above Rs 750 crore and could even go up to Rs 1,000 crore.

So far, Citigroup has pumped USD 3.1 billion into the country and is the single largest foreign direct investor in the domestic financial services industry, according to the information available on its website.

Out of this total investment, the group's banking arm Citi has so far received around USD 2.4 billion, the official informed.

The proposed additional capital infusion will equip the US-banking major to face competition emanating from its deep-pocket global opponents like StanChart and HSBC as well as from domestic players, to grab a larger share of the market.