Doha Bank, a leading bank in Qatar, is all set to start its operations in Kochi shortly. This will be the bank’s third branch after opening two branches in Mumbai.

The Kochi branch, which is likely to be operational by August-September, will cater to the needs of a large number of NRI population from Kerala.

“We have recently acquired two of the HSBC Oman branches and these two will be getting integrated with Doha Bank for Kochi operations,” R.Seetharaman, CEO, Doha Bank, said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a function to launch the full-fledged non-banking finance company by Doha Brokerage & Financial Services (DBFS), an associate company of Doha Bank.

India has a very important position in Doha Bank’s expansion plan. The huge size of the Indian market along with its rising per capita income level and business friendly policies render India as an essential and strategic location for Doha Bank, Seetharaman said.

On the launch of new products under NBFC, Prince George, Managing Director, DBFS, said that the company is targeting a minimum lending of ₹1,000 crore in the next 6-9 months through products like personal and consumer loans, property loans, gold loans etc. It is currently offering loan against shares for its captive clients in the brokerage business.

For DBFS, the launch of full fledged NBFC is a major strategic move. “Hitherto, we have been more focussed on brokerage and investment-related products. Offering non-banking financial products is a logical extension of our activities which can effectively be rolled out through our distribution network,” he said.

The group has a network of more than 200 branches spread mostly in South India and there are planns to add more branches dedicated to NBFCs, he added.

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