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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave its approval to the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on Sunday to set up an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Unit at GIFT City. The branch will function as Bank of Maharashtra’s first international branch carrying out offshore banking operations from India.
Speaking on the development, BoM MD & CEO Nidhu Saxena said,” This is a significant opportunity for our bank as we continue to expand our operations across geographies. The opening of IBU in GIFT City will be yet another milestone in the bank’s growth story.”
This development will help expand international banking business and also enable the bank provide specialised banking services to its customers, he added. Aligned with the government’s vision of making India an international financial hub, the GIFT City, located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat is India’s first IFSC, aimed at revolutionizing India’s financial ecosystem by providing world-class banking services locally and reducing reliance on offshore financial hubs, BoM said in a statement.
The centre has also become a hub for fintech innovation and global investments, generating jobs and attracting institutions across banking, education and technology centres, it said. The IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) will provide access to international financial markets and will allow the bank to deliver a complete range of products to its clients with foreign currency funding requirements.
The bank will now be able to actively offer products such as External Commercial Borrowings to its customers, it said. Through this banking unit, the bank will also be able to meet the funding requirements of overseas entities which may be joint ventures or subsidiaries of its domestic clients.
This will further strengthen capabilities and capacity to serve clients in India, it said, adding, the bank will also be able to participate in global syndications.
(With PTI inputs)
