HSBC upbeat on India growth story, to invest more

HSBC Holdings chairman Sir John Bond on Friday said that the group is planning to increase its investment in India.

"Our revenues are likely to grow with faster economic growth.... We are willing to invest more here," he told reporters, adding that HSBC was upbeat on India's economic growth.

The top brass of HSBC Holdings met President APJ Abdul Kalam and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the eve of the bank's first global board meet in India. HSBC India executives termed the meetings as courtesy calls.

Apart from Bond, others who met the President and the finance minister included HSBC group chief executive S K Green, deputy chairman and senior non-executive director Baroness Lydia Dunn, HSBC India chief executive officer Niall S Booker and other senior executives from the India office.

Commenting on the good pace of economic reforms in the last 15 years, Bond said, "The Indian economy is growing by seven per cent. Our judgement is that any change in growth will be on the upside."

The bank is looking at the opportunity to enter the pension sector in the country as it has such operations in about 26 countries.

HSBC, which had carried out a research on household and old-age savings in India and other countries, is awaiting the passage of the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Bill.

Booker said the group had also applied to the Reserve Bank of India for a licence to set up a non-banking finance company.

"A number of applications are pending with the RBI including that of other foreign and Indian banks. I think they are reviewing the guidelines," he said.

"Life insurance is another attractive area," he said but clarified that HSBC was not looking at setting up a company.

HSBC has already invested $150 million in March this year as revenues from Indian operations grew by 20 per cent in 2004-05.