Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 07: A third of Dubai’s working population is Indian. Indian Bank’s board just approved a move to tap that. The bank has cleared a plan for a representative office there. It’s now pursuing the remaining regulatory approvals needed. The push forms part of a broader overseas expansion drive.
MD and CEO Binod Kumar framed the logic simply in an interview. Dubai’s large Indian diaspora represents an under served banking relationship. Kumar put the city’s Indian working population at roughly 33%. That population, he suggested, is exactly the customer base Indian Bank wants closer to.
This wouldn’t be Indian Bank’s first venture abroad. The bank already runs a full-service branch in Singapore. It also operates in Colombo and Jaffna, within Sri Lanka. A fourth international touch point sits in Gujarat, oddly enough. Its IFSC Banking Unit at GIFT City functions as an offshore branch.
That GIFT City unit is already pulling its weight, according to Kumar. He described it as generating “good business” for the bank. Part of that comes through participation in syndicated loan deals. Dubai, if it comes together, would extend this international model further west.
Kumar didn’t stop at Dubai when discussing overseas ambitions. He said the bank is also looking at Malaysia and Indonesia. Nothing there is confirmed these remain early-stage possibilities, not approved plans. Still, the mention signals Indian Bank’s overseas thinking extends beyond West Asia.
Back home, the bank isn’t slowing its branch rollout either. Indian Bank plans to open 100 new branches this year. Central and western India are the primary targets for that growth. It’s a repeat performance last year saw the same 100-branch addition. Fifteen of this year’s branches launched on August 15, the bank’s foundation day.
That expansion builds on an already substantial base. Indian Bank counted 6,003 domestic branches as of June 30. The bank’s current geographic tilt traces back to 2020. That’s when it absorbed Allahabad Bank, boosting its presence in the east and in Uttar Pradesh. Now, Kumar said, the focus has shifted toward filling gaps in central and western states.
None of this expansion happens without people. Indian Bank plans to add around 2,500 employees this year. Some will handle growth in business volume. Others will replace staff nearing retirement age. Specialist officers are part of that incoming headcount too.
Put together, the picture is a bank moving on two fronts at once. Domestically, it’s filling out its branch map region by region. Internationally, Dubai represents a calculated bet on diaspora banking. Whether that translates into meaningful NRI business remains to be seen but the board’s approval marks the first concrete step.
