State Bank of India (SBI) says it is looking for bank guarantee and letter of credit (L/C) business as well as other trade and project finance opportunities from its new operations in the Gulf state of Qatar.

The bank's first branch in Qatar was inaugurated earlier this month.

Infrastructure spending

India's largest bank is looking to tap into Qatar's huge infrastructure spending which SBI sees as a mine of opportunities for its international banking operations.

The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority has given approval to SBI to open a category-one bank branch at the Qatar Financial Centre.

Trade finance

The bank says it will focus on providing trade finance to Indian companies dealing with Qatar and hopes these services will facilitate a quantitative jump in Qatari-Indian bilateral trade.

India is one of Qatar's largest trading partners and a major buyer of the Gulf state's oil, liquefied natural gas and petrochemical products.

SBI's new Qatar branch will be providing credit, including bank guarantees and L/Cs as well as accepting deposits and participating in syndicated lending.

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