ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, on Monday said it intends to increase its manpower strength by up to 7,000 during the current financial year with plans of expanding its network further.
"We plan to hire around 5,000-7,000 people this fiscal," ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar told reporters.
"We have also declared bonus and increments for our employees," Kochhar said in Mumbai after inaugurating the 2,000th branch of the largest private sector bank. She said ICICI Bank is the first private sector bank to reach this milestone.
The bank plans to add more branches and ATMs in the current fiscal, she said. The bank has 33 per cent branches in metro areas, 26 per cent in other urban areas and 41 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas.
On the bank's plans to acquire overseas assets, Kochhar said, "We are in the process of applying for new branches overseas. This year we are more into expanding and deepening our presence in the locations we are already present in."
ICICI Bank's presence currently spans 19 countries, including India. Kochhar said the ICICI Group does not envisage any problems in its expansion plans due to the government's foreign direct investment (FDI) norms that classify the bank as foreign-owned.
"Nothing has changed in our ownership structure in the recent past, so we do not think there are any hitches in our expansion plans," Kochhar said.
RP Singh, secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), had said last week that since at least 74 per cent of the bank's equity is from outside the country, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are not owned by Indians.
They are under Indian control but not owned by Indians, he had pointed out. Kochhar had also met RP Singh on the issue.
Besides the bank, ICICI Group has a life insurance venture with the UK-based Prudential Plc, which owns 26 per cent stake, the maximum for foreign direct investment (FDI) allowed in the sector.
Going by the classification of ICICI as foreign-owned, it was feared that the entity cannot put more than 26 per cent equity in the insurance venture.
According to the government's new guidelines, if indirect FDI in an Indian company exceeds 50 per cent, its investment in subsidiaries will be treated as foreign investment.
RBI had pointed out to the finance ministry and the DIPP that as per the revised policy, foreign investment in all these banks would exceed 50 per cent in the new policy regime and they will be treated as non-resident entities.
The government is reported to be addressing the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) concerns on the change of their status from 'resident' to 'foreign' if the norms are implemented.
The government is now planning to come out with six discussion papers by mid-May to move towards a more liberal FDI policy.
RP Singh has stated that all issues including FDI in pharmaceuticals, retail and agriculture would be covered by these papers.
The government has already taken steps to attract more foreign investment into the country. In February this year it had further liberalised the country's foreign investment policy by raising the limit of incoming overseas investments that can be cleared at the level of the foreign investment promotion board ( FIPB) from Rs 600 crore to Rs 1,200 crore.
Earlier, all proposals involving FDI had to be cleared by the FIPB and then sent to the CCEA for final approval. This was a longdrawn procedure that often led to delayed projects. Now, the CCEA approval will be required only if the foreign investment exceeds Rs 1,200 crore.
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