Foreign banks are gearing up for a major push in to India as the country notches up the second fastest growth among major economies after China and traditional markets experience slowdowns.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which had acquired ABN Amro last year in conjunction with Fortis Bank and Banco Santander (See: Royal Bank of Scotland- Fortis- Santander consortium acquires ABN Amro in world's biggest banking takeover) , announced the appointment of four former executives of the Dutch bank to key positions in its India operations.

Manoj S Agarwal will take over as the head of global corporate finance (India) and Anjani Kumar as the head of merger and acquisitions (M&A) India, the bank said in a press release issued here. Agarwal would be returning from Hong Kong while Kumar would be moving from ABN's M&A advisory group in London.

Besides, RBS has also named Dilip Kadambi as head of the equity capital markets (ECM) division and Varsha Valecha as a business leader in the India team.

"I am excited to work with the new team in our significantly growing Global Banking and Markets (GBM) business. They bring a solid track record in investment banking to our team," GBM India managing director Madan Menon said. Menon had left rival British bank Barclays to join RBS last year.

These appointments seek to bolster RBS's presence in India's merger and acquisition market, which, in Menon's opinion ''remains very, very strong''. The ongoing Bharti-MTN talks can be cited as a prime example.

"The integration of RBS and ABN Amro creates a leading corporate bank in both India as well as in Asia. We now have a top five position globally in all of our key product areas," he added. The bank tops the league tables in completed Indian M&A deals, but does not rank in the top 25 on announced but uncompleted M&A.

Last week, Barclays hired a team of five bankers from ABN to build up its corporate advisory business, including Frank Hancock, who had headed ABN's M&A and equity capital markets operation in India.

Investment banks battered by the meltdown of credit markets in the west are counting on increased number of deals in big emerging markets led by China and India to offset sluggishness elsewhere. Global players such as Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse have also been building up their Indian operations.