Emirates NBD has announced the opening of two new full-service branches in India, in Gurugram (NCR) and Chennai respectively. Backed by an investment of $300 million, the expansion demonstrates the Group’s commitment to India as a key growth market against the backdrop of strong bilateral ties between the two countries.

India and the UAE have had long standing strategic and economic ties over the years, which have further been catalysed with the recently executed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Emirates NBD is the only UAE-based bank with strong branch presence in India. In 2017, the bank inaugurated its first full-fledged branch in India’s commercial centre, Mumbai, marking the sixth country where Emirates NBD has in-shore presence after UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in addition to Turkey, Austria, Germany via its 2019 acquisition of DenizBank.

With the enhanced geographical coverage and its extensive network across key trade corridors, Emirates NBD is well poised to facilitate increased volumes of trade and capital flows between the two countries as well as the larger MENAT region.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD Group commented, “India has always remained a strategic market for Emirates NBD, and we are delighted to expand our operations with the opening of our new branches.