ING chief to visit India on 7 March

Mumbai: The chief of the ING group, M Kist, is in India from March 7 to March 11. Kist, chairman of the executive board of the ING group, is here to explore the countrys potential as a base for information technology and business process outsourcing and other business opportunities, said a press release.

He will meet senior government and industry officials in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. Kists visit assumes significance in light of INGs interest in the Bangalore-based Vysya Bank. ING Insurance International has a 26 per cent interest in Vysyas life insurance venture.

The Dutch finance major, which already holds a 20-per cent stake in the private sector bank, wants to take a controlling equity holding and had approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for approval.

Though Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha reportedly gave the nod for a higher foreign investment in private banks, there is still some ambiguity regarding the specific levels of the permissible direct and portfolio investments.