00:00I just want to pick up on some of the points that Anto was making there and ask you
00:04what Citibank's or Citi's focus is for India for the next couple of years.
00:10Thanks Paul for inviting me to the studio.
00:13Citi actually has been in India for more than 123 years.
00:17In fact, next year we are going to be celebrating our 125th year in India.
00:20And as you know, we exited the retail business three years back
00:24and we are actually going to be focused on our core domain
00:27which is the institutional banking business.
00:30And if you look at our position in the institutional banking business
00:32we actually are in the top three in each of the business segments
00:35that we operate in India, in the Indian market
00:38and also within the city world globally
00:40we will be in the top five in most of the businesses that we have in India.
00:44Our focus continues to be basically deepening our coverage with our key clients
00:48expanding our commercial banking business in terms of that being a big growth engine
00:52continue to be the leadership position that we have in the investment banking
00:56across advisory and capital raising both from the private and public markets
01:02and also using our network which is across 94 countries
01:05to be more relevant to Indian conglomerates
01:08and also to multinationals which is coming into India.
01:12I think this is a very big strength that we bring to the table
01:14and if you look at the two businesses where we bring foreign capital in
01:18which is actually a very core point for the government of India
01:21because if you look at the government's plan of moving India from where it is
01:25to the advanced economy over the next 20 years by 2047
01:28the Viksit Baris that the Prime Minister Modi always talks about
01:32I think it is going to be very important that you know
01:34you need to have access to all pockets of capital
01:36and I think the city is very well positioned in terms of mediating some of this capital
01:40that is actually going to come in either in the form of foreign direct investment
01:43in manufacturing which again is a very big focus area for the government
01:46and also the portfolio investments that comes in from different parts of the world.
01:49I think we have some market leadership position in each of these businesses
01:53and I think that is going to be our focus in terms of like
01:56how we can help clients to come into India
01:58and access the opportunity that India provides
02:01as well as the Indian companies which are actually looking to glow overseas
02:04and try and see in terms of like how they can get into more profitable markets across the world.
02:09So I think it is going to be a pure institutional focused business
02:13and I think that is going to be a core strategy going forward for India.
02:17Yeah, pure institutional focus and to your point that you know
02:20you have exited the consumer banking side of things in India
02:23I am just wondering if you can unpack that a little bit more for me
02:25considering you know the wealth of the Indian consumer
02:28it looks like it is poised to explode
02:29you are walking away from a potential good business there?
02:34Well Paul if you think about it and I can give you some stats right
02:38it has been as I said a little over close to three years
02:41since our exit of the consumer business
02:43and if you look at the financials that you know we put out for the India business
02:47our top line which is the sales
02:51which is actually today 25% more than the combined sales
02:56that you know we had across the consumer and the institutional business three years back.
03:00If you look at our profitability that again is like you know at least 20-22% more
03:04than what the combined profitability that we had three years back
03:07and then if you look at our balance sheet size across deposits, assets and other key parameters
03:11we have all seen a significant growth.
03:14So basically like you know the capital that we released from the sale of consumer business
03:18is actually getting reinvested into the institutional business
03:20and we want to be in businesses where we have market leadership
03:24and we have thought leadership and therefore like you know from our strategy perspective
03:28we are very clear that you know institutional business is the way forward for city in India
03:32and that's where we are doubling down.
03:35Yeah so tell me a bit about if you're planning to expand roles and where those might come from
03:39would you be pulling in people from the rest of the region or the rest of the world
03:43or are you looking to hire more domestically?
03:47Well I think we started this capability centers the GCC as it is called today at least four decades back
03:53when the concept of GCC was non-existent in this part of the world
03:57and it's no more a question of cost arbitrage where we are hiring people in terms of like
04:03you know doing the same job at a cheaper cost but today I think the type of work that is
04:07happening
04:08in our capability center is absolutely cutting edge. They are using artificial intelligence both
04:13predictive and generative in terms of like now trying to bring in efficiency and if I look at the broad
04:18transmitter work that is happening in the GCC this covers all facets including operations,
04:24technology, finance, risk modeling, compliance and governance etc. etc.
04:29We are spread across five locations in India and as I look at the headcount today after the United
04:36States and post the Banamex exit City India is actually going to be the second largest employer
04:41of city globally and this is a position that you know we potentially will continue considering the
04:46access to talent that we have and the quality of talent that you know we can hire in India which
04:51are basically helping cities operations across 80 different markets that you know we operate so
04:56this is a very India is actually a very very core part of cities overall construction and like you know
05:01it's an invest to go business in India. So you're going to have a strong focus on commercial banking
05:06going forward I'm wondering if you can give us a sense of how global rates um volatile capital flows
05:12some of the outflows that we've seen from India uh in 2025 uh are going to impact uh foreign direct
05:19investment or is or you're relying more on domestic demand yeah Paul uh you know if I look at the
05:27foreign direct investment I want to just break it up into two constituents one is the gross FDI
05:31the gross FDI continues to be like you know quite robust between 80 and 90 billion dollars that's been
05:36the case at least for the last three four years I think the problem that we are having is on
05:40the net FDI
05:41and the reason why the net FDI is something on a downward trajectory is because of two or three things
05:46one is we are seeing a lot of global companies looking to raise capital in India from through
05:52the subsidiaries and then limit the money out considering that you know Indian valuations are
05:56very rich so therefore we have taken American companies to the equity markets through IPO in
06:02India in the last 24 months you've taken European company uh to the Indian market through IPO you've
06:07taken few Asian companies uh into the Indian market through IPO and as you look at the pipeline for
06:12the next 12 18 24 months I think this trend is going to continue we are also seeing some capital
06:17being taken out by exits happening through private equity and VCs who are very active in terms of
06:22investments and considering that you know that investments have grown quite nicely over the last
06:26three four five years I think there is a money that is getting taken out and we are also seeing
06:30uh
06:30some bit of outward investments happening by Indian conglomerates so all this if you add up that basically uh
06:37subdues our uh net FDI but on the gross FDI front I think that is going to be quite uh
06:43positive and
06:44especially with the two trade deals that has got announced with uh European Union and the United
06:49States I think the expectation is that you know as we get more details and like you know clients get
06:55to
06:55get more comfortable with the outcomes of these trade deals there is going to be more investments that
06:59is going to come in which is actually going to be a further positive story in terms of the China
07:04plus
07:04one one manufacturing that the government is super focused on yeah I'm glad you raised that because
07:09you know within that agreement there is an intention for India to buy 500 billion dollars worth of US
07:15goods um does corporate India's balance sheet have the capacity to absorb that much American hardware and
07:23energy see I think as I look at and first of all we need to wait and see in terms
07:30of like you know what
07:30the final details of this trade deal and I expect that you know that potentially is going to come
07:34over the next few weeks and months but broadly if I think about it I think there is going to
07:39be uh
07:40opportunities around energy there is going to be opportunity on agriculture there is going to be
07:45definitely opportunity on defense as you know civil nuclear is something that you know the government
07:50is in the process of opening up so there is a of course going to be opportunity on smr's because
07:54India doesn't have the nuclear technology and they potentially will be uh open to getting technology from
08:01some parts of European Union and even some of the Asian countries like Japan etc there could be
08:06further opening of financial services like you know we saw the insurance sector being opened up
08:10and there is clearly a need for reinsurance of some of those high ticket items like marine aviation etc
08:15which the country is moving in that direction and then there is also going to be more partnership
08:20on defense which is around rockets and some of those new emerging technologies so I think if I broadly
08:25think about it there is going to be a lot of opportunity that is going to open up
08:28and my sense is like you know it's going to be a two-way street where the labor intensive sectors
08:32that India is always uh focused on which is around textiles uh horticulture agriculture
08:38gems and jewelry etc which will all again get a fill up as we look at the trade deal getting
08:43opened up
08:43with both EU and U.S.
08:45you
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