ICICI Bank 2011 Annual Report Download - page 38

The relationship team also works with our Markets Group to assist customers in devising and executing risk
management strategies to address foreign currency, interest rate and liquidity risks. Our loan syndication franchise
enables us to structure, underwrite and syndicate rupee and foreign currency debt with Indian and offshore investors.
We have built robust sector specific syndication skills across project finance, M&A financing and structured finance to
provide optimal financing solutions.
The continuing expansion of Indian companies provides significant opportunities for our corporate banking business.
Our expertise lies in structuring client specific solutions coupled with seamless delivery for an enriching customer
experience. We will continue to focus on increasing the granularity and stability of our revenue streams by executing
our transaction banking and trade services strategy, while keeping a close watch on credit quality and further deepening
our client relationships.
PROJECT FINANCE
With strong momentum in the Indian economy, there has been a significant increase in investment activity with capacity
additions across sectors such as infrastructure, power, oil & gas, urban development and manufacturing. We expect a
significant increase in infrastructure financing requirements going forward. The power sector will witness the execution
of large projects given the energy needs of the country and the government’s energy expansion programmes. Besides
requirements arising out of capacity additions, significant investments are also projected in inter-regional and regional
transmission corridors for strengthening the national grid. Further, we also expect substantial development in the
renewable energy segment. With the scale-up in gas production there is a need to connect India’s various regional
gas pipeline systems and as such, significant investments in trunk pipeline networks are expected. The improved
gas availability and pipeline connectivity is also expected to drive the expansion of the city gas network. In the
transportation sector, roads and ports have seen activity. The momentum is expected to increase as the government
has been bidding out new projects for development of national and state highways. With the government promoting
an inclusive maritime infrastructure in the ports sector, there has been increased private participation in projects
for berths and terminal development, channel deepening, port connectivity and modernisation of equipment. The
railway sector is also expected to witness modernisation of railway stations, logistics development and expansion of
dedicated corridors for freight. The telecom sector is expected to see continued growth due to decline in tariffs and
increased focus on rural markets. Further, we also expect increased private sector investments in the development of
water supply, education and healthcare infrastructure.
Our long tradition of project finance and our ability to offer structured and customised solutions position us uniquely
to capitalise on these opportunities and cater to the financing requirements in the infrastructure sector. It will be our
constant endeavour to add value to projects through financial structuring to ensure bankability. These services are
backed by innovative structuring capabilities, sectoral expertise and sound due diligence.
INTERNATIONAL BANKING
Our international strategy is focused on meeting the foreign currency needs of our Indian corporate clients and
partnering them in their global expansion, taking select trade finance exposures linked to imports to India, and
achieving the status of the preferred non-resident Indian (NRI) community bank in key markets. We also seek to build
stable wholesale funding sources and strong syndication capabilities to support our corporate and investment banking
business, and to expand private banking operations for India-centric asset classes. ICICI Bank currently has subsidiaries
in the United Kingdom, Russia and Canada, branches in the United States, Singapore, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka,
Dubai International Finance Centre and Qatar Financial Centre and representative offices in the United Arab Emirates,
China, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. We opened our first retail branch in Singapore in
fiscal 2011, after being granted Qualified Full Banking (QFB) privileges. The Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary ICICI Bank
UK PLC has eleven branches in the United Kingdom and a branch each in Belgium and Germany. ICICI Bank Canada
has nine branches. ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company has one branch.
In fiscal 2011, global economic activity picked up at differential rates with emerging markets experiencing strong
growth and developed markets continuing to face a phase of slow recovery. However, as the overall global economic
environment improved, the pace of recovery in international trade and capital flows strengthened significantly. Exports
from India crossed USD 200 billion and have reached an all-time high. In this changing environment, we continued to
maintain adequate capital and focused on risk containment and liquidity management in our international operations.
We also focused on improving the funding profile in our international operations. We became the first Indian bank to
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