Goldman Sachs Group Inc. intends to expand its lending business in India and sees a rising opportunity to target the country’s affluent diaspora as international investors turn their attention from China to the major economy that is now developing at the fastest rate in the world.

The investment bank, according to Sonjoy Chatterjee, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs in India, intends to increase the variety of loans it provides through its shadow banking division. According to Goldman in an interview, the company also intends to obtain a licence to expand its currency trading business. This licence would enable Goldman to deal with any counterparty, including corporate clients, equity customers, and financial investors.

Goldman is pursuing chances in an economy that is expected to rise by 7% in the year ending in March, alongside Wall Street bankers and massive private equity firms. The largest overseas branch of the New York-based company already has thousands of employees, ranging from software engineers to quants. Based on statistics gathered by Bloomberg, Goldman leads the league table for deals in India this year.

“Emerging market equities flows that have shifted from China have helped Indian markets, though the China story is clearly not going away,” Chatterjee stated.

Credit  Push

According to Goldman, the loan growth through the business’s non-banking financial subsidiary builds upon a private credit fund it currently manages in the South Asian nation on its own balance sheet. In India, the majority of NBFCs—also known as “shadow banks”—are able to provide loans but not take deposits.

“This will be primarily what we might want to create and distribute, with only a small portion held in reserve,” he stated.

A “more prominent” possibility to serve such clients from offices in Singapore, London, and Dubai has arisen because many Indian entrepreneurs in the wealth management industry have relocated overseas during the pandemic, he said.

Private Equity

After working for 16 years at ICICI Bank in India, Chatterjee joined Goldman Sachs as a partner in 2010. He stated that private equity firms intend to use a significant amount of the money they have raised for Asia funds in India. Dealmaking in the nation will probably be fueled by this in the future.

He stated, “Private capital is still very eager to invest.” The most apparent place to go when you have a $8–10 billion huge Asia fund is India.