Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shakes hands with Hisham Abdullah Qasim Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Non-Independent and Non-Executive Director of Emirates NBD
MUMBAI: Emirates NBD’s Rs 26,015-crore purchase of 60% stake in RBL Bank represents more than the largest cross-border banking deal; It indicates how the economic relationship between India and the UAE has shifted from trade and remittances to capital and control.
The Dubai-based bank now counts India among its five core strategic markets, along with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.Hisham Abdullah Al-Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, sees this step as a historic return. He pointed out that when Emirates NBD was founded in 1963, it relied heavily on Indian financial ties. “We set up the financial institution in 1963 with the help of the State Bank… In the 1960s, everyone in the region was using the Indian rupee heavily.
He said that India in the Middle East was a very important country.
He added that Indian projects helped build business foundations in the Gulf: “Indian businessmen… have started the entire platform of the economy in every GCC country including the UAE.” The acquisition, in his telling, fulfills a long-held ambition “to return to India to continue our trade and relationship,” now backed by enough capital to buy a bank outright.
This deal makes Emirates NBD the promoter of RBL Bank and provides it with a local platform in one of the fastest growing banking markets in the world. For Shane Nelson, the group’s chief executive, the logic is straightforward. “Emirates NBD, as a group, has identified five key strategic indicators that will drive our future growth: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and of course India,” he said, describing India as a uniquely important growth market.Diaspora bankingThe bet depends not only on macroeconomics, but also on demographics and diaspora. “There are 4.3 million Indians who call the UAE their home. They have contributed greatly to our economy, our society and our success,” Nelson said, noting that nearly a third of the bank’s customer base in the UAE are of Indian origin. He added that economic ties are deepening rapidly: “Bilateral trade has already crossed $100 billion, making India the third largest trading partner of the UAE and India the second largest trading partner of the UAE.
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