Australia's leading Bank ANZ has been granted approval by the Reserve Bank of India, RBI, to open a branch in Mumbai during the first half of 2011, a media report said.
To begin with, ANZ services will include trade finance, debt capital markets, cash and payments, and funding and hedging solutions, it added.
The approval for a foreign banking licence was granted after ANZ confirmed the location of the branch in Worli-Prabhadevi, AAP said today.
The bank was given in-principle RBI approval in March.
ANZ chief executive for the Asia Pacific, Europe and Americas regions, Alex Thursby, said the banking licence will help ANZ to grow in India and towards the dream of becoming a super regional bank in the Asia Pacific.
"India is Australia's fourth-largest export market, driven by demand for natural resources, with exports totalling more than $11.7 billion in 2009, while trade between India and other parts of Asia represents $139.6 billion in flows annually," Thursby said.
He added, "To support these growing business and economic ties, our business in India will provide corporate and institutional banking services, connecting customers through ANZ's regional network across the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand as well as the Middle East, Europe and America."
Thursby said the ANZ business in India will initially look at corporate and institutional banking, but will broaden to include individuals over time.