Total income of Indian banks' overseas branches more than doubles in FY23

The overseas business and presence of Indian banks significantly increased in FY23. The credit dispensed by overseas branches rose to Rs 9.74 trillion in the year ended March 2023 (FY23) from Rs 7.74 trillion in FY22.

The total income of branches more than doubled to Rs 60,596 crore in FY23 from Rs 22,947 crore in FY22. The expenses grew to Rs 51,479 crore in FY23 from Rs 19,709 crore.

The tightening global monetary policy cycle during the year led to a substantial rise in interest income and expenses across bank groups, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Survey on International Trade in Banking Services, 2022-23.

As higher interest rates led to a rise in total income, the share of fee income in total income came down during 2022-23. Branches of Indian banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) generated the highest fee income, followed by those in the United Kingdom (UK), Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Indian banks increased their overseas presence through the subsidiaries route, and their employee strength rose by 0.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent for foreign branches and subsidiaries, respectively, during 2022-23, the RBI added.

Shifting the retail business of a major foreign bank in India to a domestic private sector bank led to a decline in aggregate deposits and credit of foreign banks, whereas their capital and investments increased during 2022-23.