Russian lenders Gazprombank and Alfa Bank seek India’s approval to set up branches, sources say

Russian lenders Gazprombank and Alfa Bank have sought permission to operate in India, four people familiar with the matter said, as Moscow pushes to grow trade with its biggest oil customer by sea.

US President Donald Trump has put pressure on New Delhi over ties with Moscow as India and Russia aim for bilateral trade of $100 billion by 2030, up from $69 billion currently.

Alfa Bank is Russia’s largest private lender and has been under Western sanctions since 2022, when Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Gazprombank, partly owned by energy company Gazprom, mainly handled payments for Moscow’s energy exports until sanctions were imposed on it last year.

Both banks have applied for a license from India’s central bank to open branches in the country and are expected to make an announcement around the time of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to India, which began on Thursday, the four sources said.

All four spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Neither the Reserve Bank of India, India’s finance ministry and Russian embassy, ​​nor Gazprombank and Alfa Bank immediately responded to requests for comment.

Russian officials and bank representatives held a meeting on the issue with Indian Finance Ministry officials on Wednesday, one of the sources said.

Increasing imports from India

Alfa Bank wants to start operations in Mumbai and Gazprombank in New Delhi, where it already has a liaison office, two more sources said, with one adding that Gazprombank is currently looking for a location.

Russia’s central bank said Wednesday it has opened an office in Mumbai “to represent the interests of Russia’s financial sector.” India already hosts Russian lenders Sberbank and VTB Bank, which opened a new office in the capital on Thursday.

Moscow is discussing ways to reduce its trade deficit with India by importing more goods, while Indian refiners will cut their crude oil purchases from Moscow to the lowest level in three years following the tightening of Western sanctions.

Sberbank said on Tuesday it has launched a rupee-denominated deferred payment letter of credit for purchases in India, which will help Russian companies increase imports from the South Asian country.

Published on December 5, 2025