ICICI Bank 2015 Annual Report Download - page 80

Business Overview
78 Annual Report 2014-2015
export finance, trade, transaction & commercial banking and rupee and foreign currency term loans. The group comprises
several teams focused on specific areas to facilitate specialisation and customised product offerings to the Bank’s clients.
The Corporate Banking Group is the relationship team, which develops and maintains corporate relationships by acting as
a single point of contact for clients and catering to their business requirements. The relationship team works closely with
other specialised teams like Commercial Banking, Loan Syndication, Project Finance, Structured Finance and the Markets
Group to develop suitable products and devise solutions that fulfill specific needs of clients.
The Commercial Banking Group provides support in terms of managing banking transactions, trade-based requirements
and cash management requirements of corporate customers. The Commercial Banking Group helps in improving client
servicing capabilities at an operational level. It enhances granularity and stability of revenues for the Bank by working
closely with clients’ on a daily basis. Consistently superior customer service levels through the Bank’s ‘mega branches’
combined with constantly evolving technology-enabled solutions have helped in growing the transaction banking business.
The Syndications Group is one of the leaders in the loan syndication market for corporate and project finance transactions.
It is an active player for India-linked loans in the primary and secondary loan distribution market and leverages on strong
relationships with financial market participants like banks, financial institutions, non-banking financial companies and
insurance companies.
The Structured Finance Group provides customised solutions to meet the complex needs of large corporates in synergy
with Corporate Banking Group and International Banking Group, by leveraging its structuring capabilities. The Group is
engaged in developing tailor-made structures for deals across the entire financial spectrum including acquisition financing,
asset financing and structured trade.
The relationship teams also work with the Markets Group to provide customised solutions to address the currency and interest
rate risks in clients’ businesses. The Markets Group also supports clients in arranging market related funding products.
During fiscal 2015, the Wholesale Banking Group focused on proactive monitoring of the portfolio given the challenging
economic environment, while continuing to grow its commercial and transaction banking business. Going forward, the
group will look at sourcing new businesses and generating new income streams, while continuing to offer comprehensive
financial solutions to corporate clients with a focus on profitability and risk mitigation.
Project Finance
The project finance environment continued to remain challenging during fiscal 2015 largely due to a slowdown in new
project commitments by corporates, coupled with implementation and operational issues affecting ongoing project
investments. During the year, several growth-oriented policy initiatives were unveiled by the Government to resolve
existing bottlenecks, improve ease of doing business and unlock project profitability. As the benefits of these measures
become visible, the Bank expects to see an improvement in the investment outlook in the economy.
The enactment of the Coal Mine (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, the finalisation of the mine allocation and auction framework
and the revised coal linkage policy which is under consideration are initiatives that will provide an impetus to the power and
coal mining sectors. In the power sector, projects in regional and inter-regional transmission corridors would augment and
strengthen the national grid. Also, the renewable energy segment is witnessing considerable interest and new investments
in solar and wind energy are expected.
The roads sector is expected to gain momentum during fiscal 2016. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is
expected to award road projects primarily through engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) contracts, which would
improve liquidity in the sector. Proposed changes relating to amendment of Model Concession Agreement, introduction
of hybrid annuity model, expediting claim settlement and easing of exit norms for developers are expected to provide an
impetus to the sector.
In the port sector, the focus is towards rationalisation of the public-private-partnership (PPP) model and promoting coastal
shipping and inland waterways. Further, the Government has proposed a new initiative to evolve a model of port-led
development called ’Sagar Mala,’ which envisages modernisation of existing ports and also development of new world
class ports. The Central Government has also announced plans to corporatise the major state-owned ports in the country,
which is expected to provide scope for modernisation and bring in operational efficiency.