“There are not enough branches to meet the needs of a growing economy such as India. It would be welcome if the central bank gave more branch licences to foreign banks. We are just as happy to open branches in a semi-urban centre such as Nelamangala outside Bangalore”

Barclays is betting big on India. The UK-based banking giant recently announced plans to establish retail and commercial banking operations in the country. Barclays is also making global headlines in its battle with Royal Bank of Scotland to buy the Netherland’s ABN Amro Bank. Frits Seeger, chief executive (global retail and commercial banking) of Barclays Plc., in an e-mail interview with BW’s Raghu Mohan, spells out why he remains optimistic despite the bank being a relatively late entrant in the Indian market. Excerpts:

Barclays has clear plans of increasing profits from outside the UK and of getting into emerging markets. What does your revenue profile look like now?
Our UK bank is still at the heart of our business, and one of our strategic priorities is building Barclays as the UK’s best bank. But we have also been able to accelerate our expansion outside the country in such a way that even as our UK businesses have grown strongly, half of our profits now come from outside the UK. We continue to significantly strengthen our presence in other markets, including Western Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and India.

Where has Barclays launched retail and commercial banking operations in the recent past? What have your experiences been so far?
We believe in the power of the Barclays brand outside of our home market, which is why we created the global retail and commercial banking (GRCB) division in 2006. It is extensively developing our retail and commercial banking business outside the UK. We have already considerably strengthened our presence in Africa and Western Europe. For example, in Portugal, we recently opened our 150th branch. In India, we have launched our retail and card proposition and opened four branches. Our ambition for 2007 is opening 350 new branches outside the UK. So far, we have opened 173 new branches internationally. Increasingly, Barclays is looking at opportunities to enter emerging markets, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, where our presence is still limited, and where we believe the potential is very strong.