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

By Manoj Kumar, Shivam Patel and Sarita Chaganti Singh

NEW DELHI, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russian lenders Gazprombank and Alfa Bank have sought clearance to begin operating in India, four people familiar with the matter said, as Moscow pushes to grow trade with its top seaborne oil customer. 

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

Alfa Bank is Russia's largest privately-owned lender and has been under Western sanctions since 2022 when Moscow launched its full invasion of Ukraine. Gazprombank, partially owned by energy firm Gazprom, primarily handled payments for Moscow's energy exports until it was placed under sanctions last year. 

 Both banks have sought a licence 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 that began on Thursday, the four sources said. 

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

Russian officials and representatives from the banks held a meeting on the matter with Indian finance ministry officials on Wednesday, one of the sources said. 

BOOSTING IMPORTS FROM INDIA

Alfa bank is looking to begin operations in Mumbai and Gazprombank in New Delhi, where it already operates a liaison office, another two of the sources said, with one adding that Gazprombank is currently scouting for a location.

Russia's central bank said on Wednesday it had opened an office in Mumbai "to advance the interests of the Russian 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 cut its trade deficit with India by importing more goods, while Indian refiners are set to reduce their purchases of crude from Moscow to a three-year-low following the tightening of Western sanctions. 

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

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Shivam Patel and Sarita Chaganti Singh in New Delhi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)