Citigroup focusing on organic growth in India

Mumbai: Citigroup, one of the top banking groups in the world, has said that it is focusing on organic growth in India rather than embarking on the acquisition route.

"Citigroup is focused towards organic growth strategy. We would like to take a patient view towards growth of business. We have a lot of room to grow in India," said Citigroup Global CEO Charles Prince, who is the first Citigroup CEO to visit India after five years.

Prince said Citigroup had the patience to go by the regulations of the Reserve Bank of India. As of now, foreign banks are not allowed to take over local banks. However, the RBI has come out with a road map for listing and takeovers by foreign banks by 2009.

Speaking on India as an investment destination, Prince said ample opportunities exist in India and Citigroup is positive about Indian growth prospects and the group is retaining all their earning from the country as investment. He also stated there has been fresh capital infusion in the bank''s India operations time to time as per the requirements.

Prince also said that currently the ratio of Citigroup''s earning from US vis-a-vis other global destinations was to the tune of 60:40, but thte bank was aiming to reduce it to 50:50 in the next five years. Markets in Asia are likely to grow rapidly when compared to Europe and Latin America, he said.

Citigroup has $10 billion in assets and 15,000 employees in India, including outsourcing unit E-Serve and a finance company Citicorp Finance Ltd through which it funds retail loans.