‘Indian cos moving up value chain to expand into EU, US’

Indian companies are increasingly moving up the value chain, focusing on higher-end and better-quality products as they look to expand into markets such as the European Union and the US, according to Citi’s global head of commercial banking, Tasnim Ghiawadwala.

- Shayan Ghosh

Speaking to Mint, Ghiawadwala said many of the bank's commercial banking clients in India are no longer aiming only for domestic leadership but are pursuing global scale and competitiveness. The shift, she said, reflects a steady move away from competing at the low end of product segments.

Citi's commercial banking unit serves two broad client segments: emerging corporates with revenues of $10-100 million, and mid-sized companies with sales of $100 million to $3 billion. “The ambition is much more than what I've seen and I've been covering India for many, many years,” she said.

Ghiawadwala has spent most of her career at Citi, working in investment banking, corporate banking and commercial banking roles, alongside regional leadership positions until 2018. She then joined Barclays for three years before returning to Citi in 2021.