Singapore’s DBS Bank has submitted an application to RBI to allow it to operate in India as a subsidiary. Piyush Gupta, CEO of Bank, confirmed that the bank has indeed submitted an application and started the process. The government has now allowed foreign banks to convert their branch business into a wholly owned subsidiary, where they will get ‘near national’ treatment’ in issues like branch expansion. DBS has about a dozen branches in India. Gupta said the bank wants to scale up its operations in India and become a universal bank rather than have a focus on corporate banking as it does now. The India operations constitute about 5% of the bank’s total business. The bank has brought in around Rs 2500 crore into the Indian operations over the years.
