Dubai: IDBI Bank has been granted a licence by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to provide a full range of corporate banking services from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The services were to include financial advisory services and credit syndication.
A spokesman for IDBI Bank said its DIFC office, the Indian bank's first overseas branch, would aim to provide the corporate fin-ancing needs of its Indian clientele and Middle East clientele.
IDBI Bank is described as India's leading provider of project and infrastructure financing.
It claims to be the second largest syndicator of loans in India and the fourth largest in the Asia-Pacific region.
An IDBI Bank spokesman said the organisation hoped to foster greater trade and cross-border flow of capital between India and the Middle East region at its DIFC branch.
Ahmad Humaid Al Tayer, Dubai International Financial Centre Governor said: "The setting up of the offices of leading Indian financial institutions like IDBI in DIFC prepares the ground for deeper ties between the financial services sectors of both countries."
"As a global financial hub that is rising in prominence, DIFC provides a strategic base for Indian financial institutions to tap new promising markets in the region," Al Tayer said.
The IDBI Bank indicated it would also seek to support industrial development in the region.
Trade hub
Indian Finance Minister Namo Narain Meena said: "In India, IDBI Bank has been a forerunner in the area of industrial financing and has therefore played a pivotal role in financing, developing and nurturing the industrial and financial architecture in India.
"Apart from the fact that Dubai is a significant financial and trade hub, DIFC provides the right platform to IDBI Bank to commence its overseas banking endeavours," he said.
The IDBI Bank said that for the year ending March 31 it earned an operating profit of Dh2.2 billion.
