Deutsche Bank's Bold Move: Major Capital Boost in India

Deutsche Bank has injected Rs 5,113 crore into its Indian operations, marking the largest capital allocation in recent years for expanding corporate, investment, and private banking. The bank sees India as a strategic growth market due to evolving global trends and is committed to supporting the country’s development.

On Wednesday, Deutsche Bank announced a substantial capital injection of Rs 5,113 crore into its Indian operations, the largest in recent years, to bolster its corporate, investment, and private banking divisions. The bank has been operational in India for 45 years, with a balance sheet size of Rs 1.45 lakh crore as of March 31, 2024, establishing itself as one of the foremost foreign banks in the country.

The new infusion sees a 33% increase in the capital buffer compared to 2023 levels, pushing Deutsche Bank AG India branches' regulatory capital to approximately Rs 30,000 crore. This represents a threefold growth over the last decade. The bank's CEO for Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Germany, Alexander von zur Muehlen, emphasized the strategic importance of India, highlighting potential benefits from global trends like digitisation and demographic shifts.

Deutsche Bank's commitment to India is underscored by plans to support digital transformation, sustainable finance, technology, and infrastructure development. India's CEO, Kaushik Shaparia, described the capital injection as a testament to confidence in the country's business prospects. Past infusions include Rs 2,700 crore in 2020 and Rs 3,800 crore in 2019. In FY23, the bank's post-tax profit had slightly decreased to Rs 1,467 crore, with a capital adequacy of 15.41% as of March 31, 2023.

(With inputs from agencies.)