New Delhi, Dec 5: The plan encompasses becoming a fully operational bank, transferring educational and healthcare models, launching investment vehicles, and making significant investments in technology and infrastructure.
Sber, having already increased its transaction volume in India by more than 14 times last year, now aims to triple its operations over the next three years. This will be supported by an estimated investment of $100 million in technology, team expansion, and new offices.
Building a Full-Stack Bank in India
Herman Gref detailed a phased approach to establishing Sber as a universal bank in India, serving both B2B and B2C clients. The bank has already applied to the Central Bank of India to open branches in ten cities within three years. The core IT platform, brought from Russia and redesigned in-house by a team of several hundred professionals in Bangalore, is being tailored to meet local regulatory requirements.
Exporting Successful Models: Education and High-Tech
A key pillar of the strategy involves partnering to bring Sber’s successful non-financial models to India. Discussions are advanced with a major Indian partner to introduce Sber’s practical, peer-to-peer engineering school model, aimed at making quality education accessible outside of classical universities. Initial modest proposals have been met with strong partner interest, suggesting a potential launch across 20 cities.
Furthermore, Sber is actively seeking partners to introduce its high-tech solutions, including its generative AI capabilities. With a dedicated team of 3,000 AI engineers and a world-class model, Sber is prepared to share this expertise, supporting India’s ambition for sovereign AI development.
Facilitating Trade and Investment
Sber has become a critical bridge in Russia-India trade, currently facilitating 65-70% of Indian exports to Russia and 10-15% of Russian exports to India. Transactions that once took weeks now complete in under ten minutes for 80% of cases, without the need for a third-party currency.
To further catalyze investment flow, Sber has launched “First-India,” a closed-end mutual fund tied to the Nifty 50 Index for Russian accredited investors.
Major Investment in Indian Operations and Talent
The expansion will be backed by substantial physical and human resource investments. Plans include doubling the IT team in Bangalore, opening a new IT office in Hyderabad, and establishing an R&D center in India. A second development team from Moscow will also be relocated to support projects in robotics and chipset architecture.
Herman Gref, CEO and chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank:
In the age of AI disruption, sovereign AI capability is a strategic imperative for a nation like India. We have built one of the world’s leading models and are fully open to partnering with India on our strategic journey.
