The US bank has received approval from Reserve Bank of India to open the outlets in New Delhi and in smaller towns located near Bengaluru and Chennai, according to a JPMorgan statement. The bank has one branch in India, in Mumbai, which opened in 1994.
Lately, banks including UBS Group and HSBC Holdings have reduced their presence in India amid pressure to cut costs and bolster capital.
JPMorgan will open the branches in the capital New Delhi, Devanahalli near Bengaluru, and Paranur near Chennai by the end of 2016 summer. They will provide existing products and services including cash management, trade finance and foreign-currency payments, according to bloomberg.com.
Despite foreign banks seeking a greater branch presence in India, RBI rules have discouraged them, preventing them from focusing their branch openings in the larger cities, where the population is wealthier and there’s a greater concentration of multinational companies.
Since 2014, the central bank approved Standard Chartered’s plan to open outlets in the central city of Chhindwara and in Nakatia in the north. The London-based lender is the largest foreign bank in India by branches, with 100 operational outlets, according to bloomberg.com.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now