Russia’s largest lender, Sber, plans to triple the size of its operations in India and sees the country as a top market for the next two decades, its chairman has said.
Herman Gref, who is in India this week as part of the business delegation accompanying Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Sber aims to tap Indian resources in a significant way.
“It’s our plan for the next five years. Maybe triple our resources here in India, in Bangalore and Hyderabad,” Gref told RT in an interview.
Sber has more than 3.5 million Russian companies as clients and needs a huge number of employees. “The deficit on our market is 3.5 million people,” Gref added.
The bank chief said Sber is moving away from simply being a traditional bank toward being a technology-focused firm in the mold of Amazon, Google, or Apple. Sber has massively expanded into new niches in recent years.
Referring to a conversation with Putin several years ago, Gref said the Russian president had inquired if the world would soon see a virtual or AI CEO.
“I think it’s impossible in the next five years, maybe. But in the long-term perspective, I think it’s a possibility. It’s possible,” the Sberbank chief said.
Gref said everything from generative AI to digital payments, cybersecurity, and fintech is material to “building a technological bridge between India and Russia.” The company has already become a leader in Russia in several high-tech segments
According to Gref, India will be one of the top markets for the next 20 years worldwide, and Sber will do everything to enlarge its business in the country.
It has agreed to bring School 21, a free Russian engineering school, to India, which can harness the potential of its vast young population.
Sber has a high-quality chipset architecture and has identified “a good partner in India which is interested in our competencies,” Gref said. “Together we can do much more in the different areas because now we are fully depending on the US chipsets.”
Sber launched a new product in Mumbai for Russian private investors to invest in the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty 50, an index of 50 Indian blue-chip companies.
Gref said he expects at least 20% annual growth from this investment over the next five years.