Microfinance Focus April 20, 2011: Rabobank recently announced that it received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to establish a banking presence in India through a maiden branch that will be located in Mumbai.

Rabobank will substantially expand its current range of services in the Indian market. Rabobank’s application for this license is part of the Bank’s international strategy to expand its activities in major growth markets with a strong food and agriculture base. It also strengthens further Rabobank’s position as the Dutch bank with the largest international branch network.

Rabobank in India will be able to accept deposits and use its balance sheet to provide working capital financing to clients. The license will also permit the Bank to deal in foreign exchange, domestic fixed income products and trade finance.

An official from Rabobank said that India was a key country for Rabobank.

At present, Rabobank is present in India through a wholly owned subsidiary Rabo India Finance (RIF), which is registered as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC).

The Rabobank Foundation has been supporting activities in India for the past 6 years and has funded over € 10 million in 105 projects with technical assistance, capacity building and through soft loans and guarantees in the areas of microfinance, organic farming, farm produce aggregation and farmer cooperatives and producer unions.