Mumbai: Citigroup Inc said it is planning to open more branches and increase its work force in India amidst reports that the US banking giant is planning to cut over 26,000 jobs worldwide as part of its efforts to improve profitability.

Charles O. Prince III, chairman and CEO of the New York-based bank, who is under pressure from investors to improve profitability at the bank, is expected to either lay off or reassign more than 26,000 jobs to streamline the bank''s unwieldy global operations.

Citigroup is expected to shed 10,000 to 12,000 jobs this year, according to people close to the developments. Some 14,000 additional positions will be lost to attrition or relocated from high-cost locations - including London, Hong Kong and New York, where the company is based - to less expensive areas like India, Buffalo, Cincinnati and northern New Jersey.

Prince, however, predicted job growth in India despite reports indicating that the bank might cut thousands of jobs in the United States. He declined to comment on newspaper reports that Citigroup was planning to cut jobs to improve profitability.

He said the goal was to increase the share of international business in Citigroup''s total revenue to 60 per cent from its current 45 per cent.
"I would expect our international business to grow faster than some of our other businesses, but we don''t target one business for another to grow more or less," he said.

Prince indicated that some back-office work would move to India, where Citigroup already operates large call center facilities - a practice that most western companies have followed in recent years to cut costs.

"We have tended to expand our back-office activities in India as a benefit to the rest of the world," he said. "I think you will see us continue to consolidate and simplify our back-offices around the world. Traditionally, India has been a beneficiary of that process."

Citigroup also plans to open more branches and expand its operations in India, especially in such areas as microfinance, Prince said.
"We have been increasing our headcount right along in India," he said, adding, "That will continue."

Citigroup''s India head Sanjay Nayar said the bank has not set any target for headcount growth here and that it would be linked to the expansion of the bank''s Indian business.

The bank added nearly 4,000 staff in India over the past year, raising its headcount to 22,000.

The company''s clientele in India includes about 1,000 large corporations, more than 22,000 small and medium enterprises, and 5.5 million retail customers.

Citigroup has 327,000 employees worldwide. Although its consumer and credit card operations will bear the brunt of the job cuts, it will also be extend to its other main businesses, including its investment bank.

Citigroup announced the cost-cutting plan last year under heavy criticism from investors because its expenses were growing faster than revenue.