The government-owned lender will explore other options such as gradually lessening the activities of the remaining Indian operations or selling individual parts of the business, Bloomberg reported citing RBS.
The move is expected to have an impact on nearly 600 jobs in the country.
RBS recently sold its Indian private banking operations to Sanctum Wealth Management, as part of its strategy to back off from some foreign markets in order to concentrate on retail and commercial banking in the UK.
As part of the previous sale plan, DBS and IDFC Bank were among the prospective buyers preparing final bids for RBS’ Indian onshore banking business.
The sale also included RBS’ stakes in two non-bank financial institutions in India, Bloomberg previously reported.
The bank had stalled the auction of the Indian business after it received final offers in December last year.
However, bidders did not agree on some conditions of the deal such as taking on employee pension liabilities and taking the responsibility of certain bank guarantees, Business Finance News reported.
The UK government, which holds 81% stake in RBS, bailed out the bank during the 2008 financial crunch. The lender has since been under pressure to consolidate its international business and focus on the home market.
Image: RBS’ revised plan may affect 600 jobs in India. Photo: courtesy of Man vyi / Wikimedia Commons.
