ICICI not interested in foreign banks

ICICI Bank, the country’s biggest private lender, does not see any merit in acquiring a foreign bank at the moment and prefers to grow through the organic route in the domestic market. "Organic growth is the better way for us to grow further. We are an Indian bank and for boosting domestic operations we do not need to tie-up with foreign banks. Other than deep pockets, what can they bring for us," ICICI Bank managing director and CEO K.V. Kamath said in an interview to PTI.
"Foreign banks do not bring anything on the table except large capital. On the technology front we have everything at par with the best of them. We have the right skill set also. Why should we need to go for an acquisition?" he said. If anything was needed for boosting the bank’s growth, it was more branches. "Branch licensing needs to be liberalised in the country," he said. "There are immense opportunities in the Indian market. Even foreign banks are coming here because of huge gro-wth potential in the banking space," Mr Kamath said, replying to a query