Fitch Plans Rating Jv In India

International rating agency Fitch IBCA Ltd is planning to enter the Indian market by joining hands with a local rating company.

Fitch IBCA Ltd chief exective officer Robin Monro-Davies told Business Standard yeserday that the company is "interested in entering the Indian market and may tie up with a local partner".

"This is one of the options before us. The other is to locate ourselves outside India and rate the international bond offering offerings of Indian banks and corporates," he said. He said no firm decision has been taken yet because "nothing is booming at the moment in the Indian economy".

He said the company has only started preliminary talks with the Indian banks and its decision to enter the Indian market would depend on the outcome of those talks.

Earlier speaking on the Indian banking system at the IBA conference on banking he pointed out that throughout the world, banks in public sector seem more vulnerable to political pressure than other banks.

"The most significant feature of the Indian banking system is the dominance of the state banks. There is no inherent reason why such banks should not operate successfully, although I have to advise you that very rarely has this been done because public sector banks are more vulnerable to political pressure than other banks," he said.

"Of course, private sector banks have made appalling mistakes and in South East Asia we have many examples of this," he added.