India central bank gives Emirates NBD ‘in-principle’ nod to set up local unit

The Reserve Bank of India has given “in-principle” approval to Emirates NBD Bank PJSC to set up a wholly owned unit in India, the central bank said on Monday.

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest bank by assets, currently operates in India through branches located in Chennai, Gurugram and Mumbai. RBI’s approval will allow the bank to set up a unit by converting its existing branches in India.

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Setting up a wholly owned unit ring-fences a foreign bank’s local operations and allows the unit to be treated on par withlocal banks.

Reuters reported last year that the RBI had approved Emirates NBD, among other lenders, as bidders for a majority stake in state-run IDBI Bank.