In three months, the State Bank of India (SBI) will be opening a branch in Israel. SBI, headquartered in Mumbai, is one of the biggest banks in Asia.
The branch of the state-owned Indian bank will be located at the Ramat Gan diamond exchange, which is on the border of central Tel Aviv.
SBI began organizing to open an Israeli branch back in May 2006. But the outbreak of war in northern Israel apparently delayed the launch.
SBI chairman O.P. Bhatt discussed the branch on the occasion of Industry Minister Eli Yishai's visit to India last week.
Sources in Yishai's delegation said that Israel and India have reached understandings to double their mutual trade, to about $5 billion a year.
SBI has shown a penchant for expanding around the world in the track of Indian business. The decision to found its branch in Israel at the site of the diamond exchange is due to the centrality of that industry in Israeli-Indian trade. In 2005, diamonds constituted 75% of the trade between Israel and India, which came to $2.5 billion.
