On a visit to India in May, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt was pestered by journalists wanting to know if he was going to buy a bank in India. The cross-examination was prompted by Mr Immelt’s declaration that he sees a great market for consumer finance in India and GE was ready to make “bold decisions” to grow its financial services business in the country.
The company expects to grow revenues from India five-fold to $10bn by 2010. Mr Immelt, who held a closed-door meeting with central bank officials in Mumbai, was measured in his reply to the question: GE was open to acquiring a bank when the opportunity presented itself and the company was willing to look at targets where the central bank said it preferred investment, he said. Meanwhile, the company would continue to grow organically by developing its own branch network, he added. GE Money, GE’s consumer finance arm, is set to expand its presence in India, which it has identified as one of its four major developing markets in the world along with Brazil, Russia and Mexico.
